Vulnerability Note VU#112553

Apple QuickTime Player for Windows contains buffer overflow in processing of overly long QuickTime URLs

Overview

Apple's QuickTime Player is a player for files and streaming media in the QuickTime format. Versions of the player are available for both the Microsoft Windows and Apple MacOS platforms. A flaw in the version for Windows could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system.

I. Description

A buffer overflow exists in the QuickTime Player for Windows' handling of overly long URL of the type quicktime://... A specially crafted URL consisting of a long string of characters can cause the QuickTime Player to crash or allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code of their choosing with the privileges of the user running the QuickTime Player.

The URL containing the exploit code may be hosted on a webpage, introduced via HTML email, or presented to the user in another fashion that encourages them to browse to it.

II. Impact

If the QuickTime player software is instructed to load a URL that is specially crafted by an attacker, arbitrary code can be executed under the privileges of the QuickTime user. This crafted URL may be supplied on a webpage or in email for the victim to select, or some other means designed to encourage them to invoke the QuickTime Player using the exploit URL.

III. Solution

Apply a patch from the vendor

Apple has released a patch to address this vulnerability; please see the vendor section of this document for further details.
Removing the QuickTime handler from the web browser or removing the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/quicktime registry key may prevent automatic exploitation through HTML pages.

Systems Affected

Vendor	Status	Date Updated
Apple Computer Inc.	Vulnerable	1-Apr-2003

References

http://www.idefense.com/advisory/03.31.03.txt

Credit

This vulnerability was discovered by the staff at Texonet and reported by iDEFENSE Labs.

This document was written by Chad R Dougherty.

Other Information

Date Public	03/31/2003
Date First Published	04/01/2003 04:06:13 PM
Date Last Updated	04/01/2003
CERT Advisory
CVE Name	CAN-2003-0168
Metric	15.68
Document Revision	6

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