Apple Patches Eight QuickTime Bugs

Apple released QuickTime 7.2 on Wednesday, patching eight security flaws that could cause problems on Mac OS X, as well as Microsoft Windows XP, and Windows Vista.

Four of the vulnerabilities are in QuickTime for Java, emphasizing what Symantec's DeepSight alert system calls a recent focus by security researchers on Java security flaws.

"Attackers can exploit these issues to bypass or disable Java security checks, load arbitrary libraries, or cause a malicious applet to capture screen content," Symantec researchers noted. "Attackers could likely gain control of a computer in the context of the user that is browsing the Web."

The other four flaws are file-handling vulnerabilities that may result in memory corruption, Symantec noted. Attackers can use these vulnerabilities to remotely execute arbitrary code.

According to an Apple advisory, one of the patches fixes a memory corruption issue in QuickTime's handling of H.264 movies. Because of the bug, if a user views a maliciously crafted H.264 movie, it could cause the application to crash or it could enable remote code execution. H.264 codec, which is included in QuickTime 7, is designed to deliver high quality at low data rates.

Another patch fixes a design flaw in QuickTime for Java that allows security checks to be disabled, according to the Apple advisory. By luring a user to a Web page embedded with a malicious Java applet, an attacker can use the bug to remotely execute code on the system. This patch performs a more accurate permissions check. Apple is giving credit to researcher Adam Gowdiak for reporting this flaw.

Another flaw being fixed in QuickTime for Java could allow a malicious Web site to capture content on a user's Web site. Apple reported that a user visiting a Web page containing a malicious Java applet could be open to an attacker picking up sensitive information on the machine. This patch fixes the flaw by performing a more accurate access control check.

Apple noted that these latter three vulnerabilities affect Mac OS X v10.3.9, Mac OS X v10.4.9 or later, Windows Vista, and Windows XP SP2.