security issue has been identified in Microsoft® Windows Media® Player that could allow an attacker to read files or run programs on your computer after you viewed a Web page. For example, this issue could allow an attacker to view information about your Media Library and modify it. You can help protect your computer by installing this update from Microsoft.
Download:
Windows update
View:
Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-021
An ActiveX control included with Windows Media Player 9 Series allows Web page authors to create Web pages that can play media and provide a user interface by which the user can control playback. When a user visits a Web page with embedded media, the ActiveX control provides a user interface that allows the user to take such actions as pausing or rewinding the media.
A flaw exists in the way in which the ActiveX control provides access to information on the user’s computer. A vulnerability exists because an attacker could invoke the ActiveX control from script code, which would allow the attacker to view and manipulate metadata contained in the media library on the user’s computer.
To exploit this flaw, an attacker would have to host a malicious Web site that contained a Web page designed to exploit this vulnerability, and then persuade a user to visit that site—an attacker would have no way to force a user to the site. An attacker could also embed a link to the malicious site in an HTML e-mail and send it to the user. After the user previewed or opened the e-mail, the malicious site could be visited automatically without further user interaction.
The attacker would only have access to manipulate the media library on the user’s computer. The attacker would not be able to browse the user’s hard disk and would not have access to passwords or encrypted data. The attacker would not be able to modify files on the user’s hard disk, but could modify the contents of any Media Library entries associated with those files. The attacker might also be able to determine the user name of the logged-on user by examining the directory paths to media files.
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Source:
TechCritic
