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Mozilla Fails to Restrict Access to "shell:"
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Secunia Advisory:
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SA12027
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Release Date:
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2004-07-09
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Last Update:
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2005-01-21
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Popularity:
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42,322 views
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Critical:
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Moderately critical
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Impact:
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Security Bypass
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Where:
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From remote
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Solution Status:
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Vendor Patch
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| Software: | K-Meleon 0.x
Mozilla 0.x
Mozilla 1.0
Mozilla 1.1
Mozilla 1.2
Mozilla 1.3
Mozilla 1.4
Mozilla 1.5
Mozilla 1.6
Mozilla Firefox 0.x
Mozilla Thunderbird 0.x
Netscape 7.x
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| | CVE reference: | CVE-2004-0648
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Description:
Joshua Perrymon has reported a vulnerability in Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox, and Mozilla Thunderbird, allowing malicious websites to use Windows "shell:" functionality.
The problem is that Mozilla fails to restrict access to the "shell:" URI handler. This allows websites to invoke various programs associated with specific extensions. It is not possible to pass parameters to these programs, only filenames, thus limiting the impact of launching applications.
However, if this issue is combined with an error or a vulnerability in an associated program, it may be possible to execute arbitrary code. Reportedly, this may be possible via a buffer overflow in "WINDOWS\System32\grpconv.exe", which by default is associated with the ".grp" extension. However, only unicode characters can be used, causing exploitation to be more difficult.
The error in the associated program does not necessarily need to be classified as a vulnerability, as certain programs aren't designed or meant to be launched in a hostile environment - such as through a website and a browser.
The vulnerability affects Mozilla, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Netscape 7 on the Microsoft Windows XP platform due to the way the "shell:" URI handler is used and implemented on Windows XP.
Reportedly all Gecko based browsers are affected by this issue.
The shell: URI handler is inherently insecure and should only be accessed from a few trusted sites - or not from a browser at all. Multiple exploits in Internet Explorer also utilise "shell:" functionality.
Solution:
This has been fixed in the following versions:
Mozilla 1.7.1:
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.or...7.1/mozilla-win32-1.7.1-installer.exe
Mozilla Firefox 0.9.2:
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.or...releases/0.9.2/FirefoxSetup-0.9.2.exe
Mozilla Thunderbird 0.7.2:
http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.or...ases/0.7.2/ThunderbirdSetup-0.7.2.exe
Netscape 7.2:
http://ftp.netscape.com/pub/netscape7/english/7.2/windows/win32/NSSetup.exe
K-Meleon 0.9:
https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=14285
Provided and/or discovered by:
Discovered by:
Joshua Perrymon
Additional research by:
Andreas Sandblad
Netscape reported vulnerable by:
Nick FitzGerald
K-Meleon reported vulnerable by:
Juha-Matti Laurio
Changelog:
2004-07-12: Added link to US-CERT vulnerability note.
2004-07-13: Added information about Netscape 7.
2004-07-14: Added information about K-Meleon and CVE reference.
2004-08-18: Added Netscape 7.2 in "Solution" section.
2005-01-21: Added K-Meleon in "Solution" section.
Original Advisory:
http://www.mozilla.org/security/shell.html
Other References:
US-CERT VU#927014:
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/927014
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About this Secunia Advisory
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Please note: The information that this Secunia Advisory is based on comes from a third party unless stated otherwise.
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