quicktime

A serious new flaw was disclosed on Thursday that affects the latest versions of Apple's QuickTime and iTunes applications.

The National Vulnerability Database entry CVE-2008-4116 describes a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability within Apple's QuickTime 7.5.5 and iTunes 8.0 programs.

To infect a computer, a maliciously coded long-type attribute within a QuickTime tag might be placed on a Web page, or within a .mp4 or .mov file. This could allow remote attackers to crash the applications (known as a denial of service) or possibly execute arbitrary code on a compromised computer.

The announcement comes one week … Read more

Apple on Tuesday released QuickTime 7.5.5, a version that includes nine security patches, some of which could lead to denial of service or allow an attacker to run code on a compromised machine. The patches cover both Windows and Mac OS X versions of QuickTime. Earlier Tuesday, Microsoft released two bulletins addressing serious vulnerabilities in its Windows Media Player.

QuickTime 7.5.5 may be obtained from the Apple Software Update application or you can download the latest version of free Quicktime player here.

QuickTime 1 This patch affects users of Windows Vista, XP SP2, and SP3. The … Read more

There's nothing like a quick YouTube break to shake up the workday monotony, but nothing will stop the show faster than a stalled video stream or a crashing media player. Make these sites your first stops when your media player goes on strike.

YouTube Help Center The service's own troubleshooting page is a bit too quick to recommend that you uninstall and then reinstall the Adobe Flash Player (cutesy instructional video, though). This may be the surest cure for all types of glitches, but I would begin with the simpler steps the site suggests, such as restarting your … Read more

I use Apple's Safari browser on my iPhone but don't have much use for it on my Windows PCs. I do run iTunes and QuickTime on the Windows systems, so every time there's an update for one of those apps, I'm prompted to download Safari.

A quick tweak of the Apple Software Update utility makes the Safari prompts history.

Open the Apple Software Update application via its shortcut on the Start menu. To set the updater to stop nagging you about Safari, check the browser's option in the main window, and click Tools > Ignore … Read more

Apple released a security update on Thursday for its Apple TV. Version 2.1 includes six patches that address buffer overflow and arbitrary code execution vulnerabilities.

Apple TV 2.1 can be automatically downloaded when the update is detected by the Apple TV device. The patches may take up to one week to be detected, depending on the day a device checks. A manual update can be accomplished by using the TV interface and selecting Settings > Update Software. This update will not appear in your computer's Software Update application or in the Apple Downloads site.

Here's an … Read more

Apple released QuickTime 7.5 late on Monday, fixing a handful of security issues, including holes that would have allowed someone to run malicious code on a computer and remotely control it.

One of the issues, which would have allowed a maliciously crafted PICT image file to run code, affected computers running Windows Vista and XP SP2.

Four other issues affected Vista and XP SP2, as well as Mac OS X 10.3.9, Mac OS X 10.4.9 through 10.4.11, and Mac OS X 10.5 or later. QuickTime 7.5 fixes a memory corruption issue … Read more

Apple has acknowledged video problems with the latest shipment of MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

Early customers of the Penryn refresh of the Apple notebooks had complained of flickering images during a QuickTime video playback on MacBooks and MacBook Pros shipping with the latest version of Mac OS X Leopard, according to our colleagues over at MacFixIt. Several discussion threads have sprung up over on Apple's user forums, and some customers report that Apple has now acknowledged the problem and is working on a fix.

MacFixIt reports that fix should come with Mac OS X 10.5.3, currently in … Read more

Apple has released a QuickTime security update to address "highly critical" security flaws in its media player that could allow malicious attackers to take control of a user's system.

The security flaws affect QuickTime 7 versions running on the Mac OS X and Windows. Users are advised to update to QuickTime 7.4.5, according to an Apple advisory issued Wednesday.

Apple issued 11 security updates designed to prevent malicious attackers from disclosing users' sensitive information, executing arbitrary code, or causing an application to suddenly crash.

Users can be hit with such evil dealings when visiting a … Read more

While controversy surrounds the lack of Flash on the iPhone, and rips on Flash Lite from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, some developers have avoided the war of sound bites and embraced Adobe's flagship Web technology.

Starting today Veodia, a service we've covered several times, and even attempted to use when livestreaming the Facebook platform launch (unsuccessfully) is ditching competing Web media player Quicktime. Coming in the next few months Veodia will switch over to Flash entirely for its livestreaming needs as well. For now it's stuck with Quicktime until the next spec of Flash, which is due in June. The changover should bring out higher resolutions at lower file sizes, which is far better for re-watching recorded content that was streamed to begin with.

CEO Guillaume Cohen said one of the major motives was simply the saturation of Flash, and that despite the prominence of iTunes, a lot of people don't feel the need to install Quicktime since popular video sharing sites don't use it.

In the future Cohen says Veodia will offer HD video as part of its services, although he doesn't believe the consumer hardware or network infrastructure is there yet--especially for livestreaming. He says the company is a year or longer away from adding it to the services despite what's being done in the consumer space of video hosting--a market that Cohen says doesn't offer the kind of security or platform possibilities Veodia offers for its enterprise and education clients.

I've embedded an example of the new player for streaming after the break.

… Read more