Opera issues security patch - News - Security

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Opera issues security patch

By Dawn Kawamoto, CNET News.com
November 23, 2005
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Opera-issues-security-patch/0,130061744,139223677,00.htm

Opera Software issued a security patch on Tuesday to protect users against flaws in Macromedia's Flash Player and in some versions of its open-source browser running on Linux or Unix.

The update, Opera 8.51, addresses flaws that could allow a malicious attacker to remotely take control of a user's system, according to an advisory issued by Opera.

One such vulnerability was found in versions of Opera 7 and Opera 8 running on Linux, FreeBSD or Solaris software. The flaw could allow an attacker to remotely execute arbitrary shell commands on a user's computer by tricking him or her into clicking on a link to a malicious Web site, according to a security advisory from Secunia. A command shell lets users enter text-based commands.

The security patch also is designed to address a flaw in Macromedia's Flash Player in Opera version 5 through to version 8, according to Secunia.

Last June, Opera issued a patch, the 8.01 update, to address several security flaws including some that could be exploited by phishers.