Flaws found in RealNetworks media player

Two flaws in RealNetworks' popular media player could let attackers commandeer Windows computers running the software, a security company has warned.

The vulnerabilities affect RealPlayer on all versions of Windows, according to two short advisories that eEye Digital Security published Thursday. To exploit the flaws, an attacker would craft a special media file and host it on a Web site or trick a user into opening it, Steve Manzuik, security product manager at eEye, said Friday.

"I don't think there is an immediate risk to users. We have no evidence of others knowing or exploiting the flaw," Manzuik said.

Researchers at eEye told RealNetworks about one of the flaws on Nov. 16 and reported the second on Nov. 30, according to the advisories. eEye regards a patch as "overdue" 60 days after it has reported a vulnerability, so RealNetworks has some time to come up with a fix for the bugs.

Word of the latest flaws in RealPlayer comes just weeks after the SANS Institute, a nonprofit research group, warned that cybercriminals are shifting their attacks from operating systems such as Windows to media players and other applications. Earlier this year, researchers at Internet Security Systems warned that antivirus scanners are a target for hackers.

eEye said it has also found flaws in iTunes and QuickTime, two media player applications from Apple Computer. Those flaws were reported to Apple on Nov. 17.

Representatives for RealNetworks could not immediately be reached for comment.

[Earl Benser]

Does anyone care???

RealNetworks entire set of software is a massive flaw. No one I
know uses anything offered by Real. And I rarely see the .rm file
type on the internet. CNET may be one of the few still offering Real
as an option for watching video clips.

[mj_junglemungle.com]

I've stopped using real...

I only used quicktime and wm.

mj
http://www.junglemungle.com

[j3st3r]

Read The Headline

'Nuff said!

[ron williams]

I dont use there software....tooo slow

I dont use there software after it went to an insanely slow speed.

[jmanico]

SANS

This article is incorrect in that SANS is a for-profit institution. Don't let the .org fool you.