Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Blogs
    • Security Watch

    ID Theft Vulnerability Haunts Firefox

    By
    Ryan Naraine
    -
    January 3, 2008
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Israeli security researcher Aviv Raff has issued a warning for a fairly serious browser vulnerability that exposes Firefox users to identity theft attacks.

      Raff, a well-respected hacker who regularly reports security problems in software products, discovered a way to use a browser bug to lure Firefox users into entering login credentials into a maliciously rigged dialog box.

      [ SEE: Unpatched Google Toolbar Flaw Presents ID Theft Risk ]

      The technical details:

      “Mozilla Firefox displays an authentication dialog, whenever the visited web server returns 401 status code, and the “WWW-Authenticate” header. In order to specify basic authentication, the “WWW-Authenticate” header should have the value [Basic realm=”XXX”] (without the brackets). The Realm value, which in this case is XXX, will be displayed in the authentication dialog window.While Firefox does not display the characters in the “WWW-Authenticate” header Realm value after the last double-quotes (“), it fails to sanitize single-quotes (‘) and spaces. This makes it possible for an attacker to create a specially crafted Realm value which will look as if the authentication dialog came from a trusted Web site.“

      Raff posted a video (.wmv file) to demonstrate an attack scenario but declined to publish proof-of-concept code.

      He did provide me with a private demo of the issue, which also works if a Firefox user attempts to load an RSS feed into Google Reader or iGoogle.

      Raff’s discovery highlights a very serious design deficiency that affects all modern Web browsers — the use of hard-to-comprehend dialog boxes to handle trust between user and Web site.

      I know Firefox is working on a better way to display trust to end users in Firefox 3, but, in this day and age, the average mom-and-pop will never understand certificate dialogs filled with techy jargon. They are the big target for these kinds of attacks.

      UPDATE (January 4, 2008): Mozilla security chief Window Snyder says an investigation is underway. The company rates this a low severity issue.

      Avatar
      Ryan Naraine

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×