Attack code published for Firefox flaw

Computer code that could be used to attack Firefox, Mozilla Suite and Netscape users has been released on the Internet. The release of the attack code comes days after Mozilla released an updated version of Firefox to fix several security flaws, including the bug exploited by the code. A fixed version of the Mozilla Suite is also available, but Firefox-based Netscape has yet to be updated. The Netscape browser is a product of Netscape, which is a division of Time Warner's America Online subsidiary. An AOL spokesman had no comment on Thursday.

The attack code exploits a vulnerability that was disclosed two weeks ago. The flaw lies in the way the browsers handle International Domain Names, or IDNs, which are Web addresses that use international characters. Hackers had been working to exploit the flaw and had said the code would be released after fixes were available. The exploit could let attackers run code remotely on vulnerable computers and works on Firefox, Mozilla and, in some cases, Netscape, according to security researcher Berend-Jan Wever, who published the code. Mozilla has urged users to upgrade to the latest versions of its products.

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Add a Comment (Log in or register) 7 comments (Page 1 of 1)
FireFox sucks, use Opera!
by September 23, 2005 3:54 AM PDT
Opera's free and it has all the features that the doh!zilla foundation claims to have invented.

Dorkzilla is turning out to be worse the M$!

Download a real browser http://www.opera.com
Reply to this comment View all 3 replies
Yeah, then when Opera gets popular...
by Harfeld Bilgewing September 23, 2005 6:54 AM PDT
They'll post exploit code for it, too.

Everyone is waiting for a bulletproof browser. What we need are smarer surfers.
Reply to this comment
Opera not bulletproof
by Des Alba September 24, 2005 2:33 PM PDT
Check out securityfocus.com. I'm using Opera to post this. Opera is not nearly as popular as IE, Firefox or Netscape, YET. It has a lot of things going for it, true. It can emulate IE and Firefox, but the temptation to bug Opera will be too great for some people and malicious code is bound to follow, sooner, rather than later. Be aware! Run anti-spyware and anti-virus packages in the background, while browsing. Keep the other browsers on your PC as well. You will need them for certain things you'll want to do. Opera doesn't work on every site (i.e. Banking, Investing, YahooMusic) which require IE.
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