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Microsoft’s
security team issued a warning to all Windows users to stop using Apple’s
Safari browser pending a security vulnerability investigation. On May 15,
Nitesh Dhanjani disclosed
three security issues in the Safari browser, one of which he called the “Safari
Carpet Bomb.”
Basically this
allows a rogue site to little a user’s desktop with executable files, allowing
the attackers to run unauthorized software on the user’s computer. Microsoft
warned that anyone who uses Safari at this point is vulnerable to such an attack.
According to
the Microsoft Security Advisory (953818), until completion of the
investigation, users should restrict the use of Safari as a web browser until
an appropriate update is available from Microsoft and/or Apple.
Microsoft said
that for the moment, they had no knowledge of any attacks attempting to exploit
the threat which allows remote code execution on all supported version of
Windows XP and Vista.
However, they
have already begun working on providing a solution through a service pack, the
monthly update process or an out-of-cycle security update, depending on
customer needs.
As Dhanjani
pointed out, this threat doesn’t concern Windows users only, but OS X users
too.
Despite all the
aggravation, Apple doesn’t seem to consider this a security issue. Nitesh
Dhanjani suggested in an email to Apple to incorporate an option to ask before
downloading anything into the Safari browser, which Apple said they might take
into consideration as “a measure to raise the bar against unwanted downloads,”
rather than a security issue.
Apple’s refusal
to treat the matter as a security vulnerability is probably what pushed
Microsoft to take the matter into their own hands. Apple did not comment on
Microsoft’s advisory, or on the story.
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