RealPlayer flaw: Stop using Internet Explorer

Security experts are warning RealPlayer users to stop using Internet Explorer until a patch is released for a flaw researchers discovered which could allow code execution.

Researcher Elazar Broad has posted to the Full Disclosure mailing list a so-called heap overflow vulnerability that makes it possible for an attacker to modify heap blocks after they are freed and overwrite certain registers.

This could allow code execution on a compromised machine. The vulnerability affects all versions of RealPlayer running under Internet Explorer.

Exploit code for this flaw has not yet been made public.

Without a patch from RealPlayer, security experts recommend disabling the killbit for the following ActiveX ClassIDs:

  • 2F542A2E-EDC9-4BF7-8CB1-87C9919F7F93
  • CFCDAA03-8BE4-11CF-B84B-0020AFBBCCFA

    However, disabling these killbits will also remove some functionality within the player.

    To avoid the loss of functionality, security experts recommend using RealPlayer in a browser that doesn't support ActiveX, such as Mozilla Firefox (for Windows and Mac).

  • Advertisement

    Talkback 2 comments

      Who uses Realplayer anymore... If you haven't yet, stop using it... sandy -- 14/03/08

      Who uses Realplayer anymore... If you haven't yet, stop using it...

      It's not that easy Marty Hamilton -- 17/03/08 (in reply to #320097314)

      It's not that easy to stop using it. Some sites that offer streaming - most notably the ABC :\ - rely heavily on the format. Of course, there's RealPlayer Alternative, but how are the majority of people going to find out about that....

    Add your opinion

    Latest Videos

    Blogs

    • Darren Greenwood Telecom NZ savings damage prospects
      If Telecom NZ wants to have any of the NZ$1.5 billion the government intends to spend on its new broadband network, it had better think long and hard before offshoring 1500 jobs.
    • Array iiNet: The whys and what nows
      Last week the Federal Court ruled that internet service providers are not responsible for copyright violation by their customers. This is an important decision not just for iiNet, which spent around $4 million defending the case, but for all ISPs in Australia and, indeed, globally.
    • Array Govt, hurry up with releasing data
      A programmer scraped data from the My School website to make some really cool heat maps showing regions of smart schools — no thanks to the government, which didn't supply the data in any useful kind of format.
    • More blogs »

    Tags

    Back to top

    Featured