Software Engineering Institute

PNI Digital Media, which is a division of PhotoChannel Networks, provides photo services for retailers, carriers, and content providers. The PhotoChannel Networks Photo Upload Plugin is an ActiveX control that allows a user to upload multiple photographs using the Internet Explorer web browser. This ActiveX control is used by photo centers for multiple retailers, including Costco, Kmart, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Brooks Pharmacy, Eckerd Pharmacy, Black's Photo Centre, Hy-Vee, Rexall, and Visions Electronics. The PhotoChannel Networks Photo Upload Plugin ActiveX control contains multiple stack buffer overflow vulnerabilities. Versions 2.0.0.9 and earlier of the control appear to be vulnerable.

By convincing a user to view a specially crafted HTML document (e.g., a web page or an HTML email message or attachment), an attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user. The attacker could also cause the web browser to crash.

Apply an update

This issue is addressed in the 2.0.0.10 version of the Photo Upload Plugin ActiveX control. This version of the control addresses the buffer overflow vulnerabilities and also sets the kill bit for the older, vulnerable versions. This version of the control is available on the pnimedia.com web page for your photo retailer. If you are unable to obtain an updated version of the control, please consider the following workarounds

Disable the PhotoChannel Networks Upload Plugin ActiveX control in Internet Explorer

The vulnerable version of the ActiveX control can be disabled in Internet Explorer by setting the kill bit for the following CLSID:

{F127B9BA-89EA-4B04-9C67-2074A9DF61FD}
More information about how to set the kill bit is available in Microsoft Support Document 240797. Alternatively, the following text can be saved as a .REG file and imported to set the kill bit for this control:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{F127B9BA-89EA-4B04-9C67-2074A9DF61FD}]
"Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400
Disable ActiveX

Disabling ActiveX controls in the Internet Zone (or any zone used by an attacker) appears to prevent exploitation of this and other ActiveX vulnerabilities. Instructions for disabling ActiveX in the Internet Zone can be found in the "Securing Your Web Browser" document.