Critical security update for Adobe Reader and Acrobat

Adobe has issued a security bulletin urging users of its Adobe PDF Reader and Acrobat products to update their software before hackers take advantage of two critical vulnerabilities.

 

Adobe Reader 9.3 for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX, Adobe Acrobat 9.3 for Windows and Macintosh, and Adobe Reader 8.2 and Acrobat 8.2 for Windows and Macintosh are vulnerable to a flaw that could be exploited by hackers to make unauthorised cross-domain requests. This same vulnerability was revealed in Adobe Flash Player last week.

 

Meanwhile, another flaw could give hackers an opportunity to inject malicious code onto computers via vulnerable installations of Reader and Acrobat.

 

As we’ve mentioned many times before, it’s essential that you keep your installations of Adobe’s software up-to-date as they are increasingly being taken advantage of by hackers to launch attacks.

 

Adobe recommends users of Adobe Reader 9.3 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX update to Adobe Reader 9.3.1 if possible. Similarly, Adobe Acrobat should be updated to version 9.3.1. It’s a shame, therefore, that Adobe’s Reader advisory makes such a bad job of linking to the right files.

 

For instance, the link it is giving for the Mac update actually links to a page full of Windows files:

 

Hopefully Adobe will sort that out soon, and make it clearer where users can download the right patches for their operating system from. I, for one, am still finding it difficult to locate Adobe Reader 9.3.1.

 

By Graham Cluley, Sophos

 

 

Mozilla admits Firefox add-ons contained Trojan code

Mozilla has issued a warning that two add-ons available from AMO (addons.mozilla.org, the Mozilla Add-ons website) were infected by malicious code capable of infecting Windows computers.

 

According to a security notice on AMO’s blog, the Master Filer add-on was infected by the LdPinch password-stealing Trojan, and Sothink Web Video Downloader version 4.0 was infected by a version of the Bifrose backdoor Trojan horse.

 

Judging by the statement on the Mozilla Add-ons blog, a fair few people could have found that their Windows computers were infected:

 

Master Filer was downloaded approximately 600 times between September 2009 and January 2010. Version 4.0 of Sothink Web Video Downloader was downloaded approximately 4,000 times between February 2008 and May 2008. Master Filer was removed from AMO on January 25, 2010 and Version 4.0 of Sothink Web Video Downloader was removed from AMO on February 2, 2010.

Versions of Sothink Web Video Downloader greater than 4.0 are said not to be infected. Furthermore, both Trojans were specifically written for Windows, meaning they could not infect on Mac OS X and Linux installations of Firefox.

This isn’t the first time malware has slipped through Mozilla’s security procedures. In May 2008, users who downloaded Firefox’s Vietnamese language pack were warned that it had contained a malicious script designed to display irritating advertising messages.

 

Mozilla says that in light of the security lapse it has strengthened its systems, scanning all add-ons with additional anti-virus tools.

 

Personally, I would recommend that all computer users remember not to rely on someone else doing the virus scanning for them, and ensure they have anti-malware protection running on their computer.

 

By Graham Cluley, Sophos

 

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