[Sunnet Alert] Advisory #272 - Microsoft (Multiple), OS X (Multiple), Multiple News

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Fri Nov 13 18:52:32 EST 2009


Sûnnet Beskerming Alert List Advisory #271

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Contents
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1.	SECURITY
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1	Microsoft (Multiple)
	- Remote Hacker Automatic Control
	- Time Since Discovery - 3 Days
1.2	OS X (Multiple)
	- Remote Hacker Automatic Control
	- Time Since Discovery - 5 Days
=======================================
/*
	- Remote or Local - Can it be achieved through a network or does it  
require physical access?
	- Hacker - The bad guy
	- Manual or Automatic  - Does the vulnerability need to be manually  
performed, or can it be automated?
	- Control, Denial of Service or Data Theft - Will the hacker get  
control of your system / website, will they prevent you from using it,  
or will they steal data.
*/
--------------------------------------------------------------------
2.    NEWS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1	Geocities Finally Deleted From Internet
2.2	Media Caught Out By Fake Press Release
=====================================

1.	SECURITY

1.1	Microsoft (Multiple) - Remote Hacker Automatic Control

	-- Products Affected --
	Windows
	Office

	-- Technical Description --
	MS09-063 - Windows. Remote code execution. Critical
	MS09-064 - Windows. Remote code execution. Critical
	MS09-065 - Windows. Random code execution. Replaces MS09-025. Critical
	MS09-066 - Windows. Denial of service. Replaces MS09-021, MS09-035.  
Important
	MS09-067 - Excel. Random code execution. Replaces MS09-021. Important
	MS09-068 - Word. Random code execution. Replaces MS09-027. Important

	-- Description --
	Following the thirteen patches released in October, Microsoft have  
released six patches for their November security patch release.  Three  
have been identified as Critical, and three as Important.  Four of the  
patches, including all of the Critical patches, are for Windows or  
Windows Server components, with the remaining Important patches for  
Office products (Excel and Word).  From Microsoft's analysis of the  
risks, it appears that the vulnerabilities (one in particular) fixed  
by MS09-065 are the greatest overall threat addressed with this  
month's release.

	-- Recommended Action --
	All users and administrators should apply the updates at the earliest  
opportunity.

	-- Source --
	http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms09-nov.mspx
	http://www.beskerming.com/services/176/Patch_Briefing
	http://store.eSellerate.net/s.asp?s=STR3448907936&Cmd=CATALOG&CategoryID=9811
	
	-- Updates Available --
	http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms09-063.mspx
	http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms09-064.mspx
	http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms09-065.mspx
	http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms09-066.mspx
	http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms09-067.mspx
	http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms09-068.mspx

	-- External Tracking Data --
	Upgrade to get tracking details

	-- Threat Matrix --
			U	O
	Home User	10	10 (Highly Critical)
	Corporate	10	10 (Highly Critical)


1.2	OS X (Multiple) - Remote Hacker Automatic Control

	-- Products Affected --
	OS X 10.6.2
	OS X 10.5.8

	-- Technical Description --
	AFP Client - Accessing a malicious AFP server may lead to an  
unexpected system termination or arbitrary code execution with system  
privileges
	Adaptive Firewall - A brute force or dictionary attack to guess an  
SSH login password may not be detected by Adaptive Firewall
	Apache - Multiple vulnerabilities in Apache 2.2.11
	Apache Portable Runtime - Applications using Apache Portable Runtime  
(apr) may be exploited for code execution
	ATS - Viewing or downloading a document containing a maliciously  
crafted embedded font may lead to arbitrary code execution
	Certificate Assistant - A user may be misled into accepting a  
certificate for a different domain
	CoreGraphics - Opening a maliciously crafted PDF file may lead to an  
unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
	CoreMedia - Viewing a maliciously crafted H.264 movie may lead to an  
unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
	CUPS - Acessing a maliciously crafted website or URL may lead to a  
cross-site scripting or HTTP response splitting attack
	Dictionary - A user on the local network may be able to cause  
arbitrary code execution
	DirectoryService - A remote attacker may cause an unexpected  
application termination or arbitrary code execution
	Disk Images - Downloading a maliciously crafted disk image may lead  
to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
	Dovecot - A local user may cause an unexpected application  
termination or arbitrary code execution with system privilege
	Event Monitor - A remote attacker may cause log injection
	fetchmail - fetchmail is updated to 6.3.11
	file - Running the file command on a maliciously crafted Common  
Document Format (CDF) file may lead to an unexpected application  
termination or arbitrary code execution
	FTP Server - An attacker with access to FTP and the ability to create  
directories on a system may be able to cause unexpected application  
termination or arbitrary code execution
	Help Viewer - Using Help Viewer on an untrusted network may result in  
arbitrary code execution
	ImageIO - Viewing a maliciously crafted TIFF image may lead to an  
unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
	International Components for Unicode - Applications that use the  
UCCompareTextDefault API may be vulnerable to an unexpected  
application termination or arbitrary code execution
	IOKit - A non-privileged user may be able to modify the keyboard  
firmware
	IPSec - Multiple vulnerabilities in the racoon daemon may lead to a  
denial of service
	Kernel - A local user may cause information disclosure, an unexpected  
system shutdown, or arbitrary code execution
	Launch Services - Attempting to open unsafe downloaded content may  
not lead to a warning
	libsecurity - Support for X.509 certificates with MD2 hashes may  
expose users to spoofing and information disclosure as attacks improve
	libxml - Parsing maliciously crafted XML content may lead to an  
unexpected application termination
	Login Window - A user may log in to any account without supplying a  
password
	OpenLDAP - Multiple vulnerabilities in OpenLDAP
	OpenSSH - Data in an OpenSSH session may be disclosed
	PHP - Multiple vulnerabilities in PHP 5.2.10
	QuickDraw Manager - Opening a maliciously crafted PICT image may lead  
to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
	QuickLook - Downloading a maliciously crafted Microsoft Office file  
may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code  
execution
	QuickTime - Multiple vulnerabilities may lead to an unexpected  
application termination or arbitrary code execution
	FreeRADIUS - A remote attacker may terminate the operation of the  
RADIUS service
	Screen Sharing - Accessing a malicious VNC server may lead to an  
unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
	Spotlight - A local user may manipulate files with the privileges of  
another user
	Subversion - Accessing a Subversion repository may lead to an  
unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution

	-- Description --
	Apple have released a major security Update, Security Update  
2009-006 / OS X 10.6.2, which addresses a large range of issues  
affecting numerous components of OS X.  For Snow Leopard users, the  
update is also the second update for their operating system taking  
their systems to 10.6.2.

	-- Recommended Action --
	All users and administrators should apply the updates at the earliest  
opportunity.

	-- Source --
	http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222
	
	-- Updates Available --
	http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/

	-- External Tracking Data --
	Upgrade to get tracking details

	-- Threat Matrix --
			U	O
	Home User	10	10 (Highly Critical)
	Corporate	10	10 (Highly Critical)

=======================================
/*
Threat Matrix:
	U - User
	O - Operator
	Harmless - 0 ----- 10 - Highly Critical
*/
=======================================

2.	NEWS

2.1	Geocities Finally Deleted From Internet

After fifteen years of service, the venerable Geocities has finally  
closed. Geocities' closure had been announced six months ago, so last  
week's closure was the culmination of that process.

In the fifteen years since it first appeared, the Internet has  
progressed rapidly to bigger and better things, but there is still a  
special place for many people for the site that allowed them, a  
regular user, to be able to have a definable place on the Internet  
that was theirs. Blogs, MySpace pages, Facebook, LinkedIn, and a host  
of other social networking sites have effectively replaced Geocities  
and similar sites (Angelfire, Tripod, others) for allowing people to  
create their own definable space on the Internet. ISPs still provide  
personal webspace, much as they did around the time that Geocities  
became popular, but it never really entered the popular imagination in  
the way that Geocities did.

While many of the pages that Geocities ended up with were an assault  
on the eyes, it did lead many to learn at least rudimentary HTML,  
JavaScript and CSS skills in order to make what they had created more  
appealing and more user friendly.

As the Geocities data has now been deleted from Yahoo's servers, all  
that remains of Geocities is what various archiving sites were able to  
extract prior to the closure.

Who knows what the next major community site to close completely will  
be. Many once popular and heavily-trafficed sites have faded to a mere  
shadow of what they once were, but it may be some time before another  
significant chunk of Internet history is deleted as Geocities has been.


2.2	Media Caught Out By Fake Press Release

News organisations seem to like complaining about the apparent lack of  
respect that the wider community is paying them, mainly about people  
wanting to keep reading their news for free. When challenged about  
their slipping standards of reporting and failure to provide actual  
news, many of these news organisations point back to falling revenues,  
wringing their hands about how hard it is to be them in an electronic  
world where information is available almost instantly to anyone,  
anywhere in the world.

They really haven't helped their case with a recent egregious failure  
to fact check, or even sanity check a fake press release and fake  
media conference that signalled a massive change in direction for a  
significant organisation representing US business interests.

The US Chamber of Commerce is a body that claims to represent more  
than 300,000 US businesses, of all sizes and types, and provides a  
common voice for these businesses in environments where they normally  
wouldn't be heard. A number of public defections by large companies  
like Apple and Nike over the management and Climate Change stance of  
the Chamber set the environment for The Yes Men to fake a press  
release and media conference where the Chamber of Commerce would be  
announcing an about turn on its Climate Change stance.

It didn't take much more for the media to bite. Not everyone was  
completely sucked in, but Reuters did take the bait, and as a result,  
so did a number of major media sites and newspapers, including the  
Washington Post and The New York Times. Retractions may have soon  
followed, but the fact was that they had already reported the fake  
press release and media conference as real news.

When media conglomerate owners and boards are publicly calling for  
consumers to pay to access their content online, being publicly caught  
out blindly reporting on a hoax isn't going to help the argument that  
they are still relevant and an important source of accurate news. It  
isn't the first time that major media organisations have been caught  
out taking hoaxed material on blind faith as being accurate, but as  
alternative media sources proliferate, it is becoming harder for them  
to avoid scrutiny when this happens.

The rush to avoid being seen as the purveyor of yesterday's news  
shouldn't mean that common sense and accuracy are disregarded in order  
to do so.

=======================================

Sincerely,

Sûnnet Beskerming Team
info at beskerming.com
Sûnnet Beskerming Pty. Ltd.
Adelaide, Australia
http://www.beskerming.com
Tel: +61 (0) 410 707 444

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