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Windows' Built-In PDF Reader Exposes Edge Browser To Hacking (softpedia.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Edge, Microsoft's new browser, uses the WinRT PDF library to automatically embed and present PDF files while navigating the web. This is what Java does with applets, and Flash with SWF files -- it unintentionally allows a hacker to append malicious code to PDF files and trigger drive-by attacks, which exploit WinRT vulnerabilities to target Windows 10 users. All that an attacker needs to do is to find and create a database of WinRT vulnerabilities it could leverage to distribute his malware.
If I get an US birth certificate and convince the delegates to vote for me!
Its so simple!
All that an attacker needs to do is to find and create a database of WinRT vulnerabilities it could leverage to distribute his malware.
So they are talking about a possibility of exploit and not an actual exploit....
The PDF format v1.7 supports all sorts of crazy stuff (including javascript). Apple was sane, and IIRC, doesn't support PDF 1.7, probably only 1.5 (and not all of it - some features like pdf_packages and nested PDFs didn't work right in previous versions of OSX).
I thought that MS Word proved you shouldn't have script code in your (mainly recognized as printed text) file formats. Of course, leave it to Microsoft to re-learn their own history.
Unless you think they simply don't care about this shit.
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
By the very few settings available in Edge... I can tell you right now there's no way to deactivate that feature. This is probably milestone #29013 for Microsoft
Let's add support for Chrome extensions first, then Microsoft can fix Edge's security flaws. Let's get our priorities in order please.
There is a very useful tool for optimizing a new Windows 10 installation. I ran ccleaner (crap cleaner) on my Windows 10 machine, and it deleted all the system files. This may be the most useful utility ever written.
You can find the details in this article.
Is there an actual bug in EDGE's PDF viewer, or are we just saying software can have bugs and that people will try to exploit those bugs?
stupid windows 10
The existence of Windows 10 exploits makes it possible for Microsoft to sell your private information and to deny having done it ("oh you have proof that someone got their hands on your personal documents? It must have been hackers").
"... is find and create a database of WinRT vulnerabilities...".
You mean the way any piece of software in existence could be exploited by "finding a vulnerability"?
Even the referenced article states that...
...because Windows 10 implemented former EMET features such as ASLR protection and Control Flow Guard, [this] "makes the development of exploits for WinRT PDF vulnerabilities time-consuming and therefore costly for an attacker."
So not only is this utter FUD, it's self-contradictory FUD.
So a story about the possibility of an exploit if a vulnerability can be found for a dead platform (WinRT is the old arm original surface devices that sold like arse). Why the fuck are they even researching this? even if WinRT was wide open with publically known vulnerabilities it would pretty much be a non issue as almost no one uses it so trying to exploit it is pointless. It is like pointing out a security hole in OS/2, or DR DOS.
So we have an article about, not how theres an exploit, but how there could be an exploit. Very interesting. If only there was a site where I could get more articles with similar amounts of high quality content.
Adobe products are a MASSIVE FUCKING SECURITY RISK? Well I never...
Firefox also has an internal PDF viewer. Is there any difference? Is there something specific reason that makes the embedded PDF viewer safe in Chrome or Firefox, but not in Edge?
For more information on the hack, click here [pdf]
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
...for using Windows 10.
Win 95: more or less OK.
Win 98/98SE: Pretty good..
Win NT 4: Pretty good..
Win 2000: Not bad at all after service packs..
Win XP: Good job!
Vista: OMFG what did you DO!?
Win 7: Whew! Finally, something that's decent!
Win 8: OMFG, are you insane!?
Win 10: *bertstare* What the actual FUCK are you smoking!? Bad biker meth? Are you NUTS!?
Face it: Win10 is a total piece of SHIT, Microsoft doesn't give a fuck about you or your rights as a user, openly spies on you, shoves 'updates' down your throat, and the goddamned thing has more holes in it's security than a swiss cheese. If you willingly use it you either must be technically incompetent, or you LIKE being fucked in the ass by an AIDS infested derelict. You may as well go find the Russian mob and ask them to install all their malware on your computer and get it over with.
All the article says is because Edge uses a library to open PDFs, someone could potentially find a vulnerability and then exploit it if they are not stopped by extensive sandboxing features by the browser. That's a lot of handwaving and not one concrete exploit.
Slashdot editors can't help themselves. Post original article? No, lets post a monetized site with two generations of dumbing-down.
At this week's RSA USA 2016 conference, I will be presenting my research on the attack surface and exploit mitigations in EdgeHTML, the rendering engine used by the Edge browser on Windows 10. One of the interesting features of EdgeHTML that I will discuss is its ability to use the built-in WinRT PDF Renderer library in Windows for rendering PDFs.
The feature is useful in that users do not need to install and maintain additional software for reading PDFs. However, the feature also opens up another attack surface that can be used to attack the Edge browser. This blog post takes a look at this library and its security implications.
https://securityintelligence.c...
No vulnerabilities cited, let alone exploits? As others have pointed out, this is a non-story about something that could happen, but hasn't yet. This is pure clickbait, and serves little use apart from generating advertising revenue and revealing commenters that know nothing about information security.
WinRT is Win(NOT)RT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aAbOgdbTbM
Windows 10, Microsoft's new operating system, uses the Winsock Sockets library to automatically manage socket connections while navigating the web. This is what Java does with applets, and Flash with SWF files -- it unintentionally allows a hacker to append malicious code to data and trigger drive-by attacks, which exploit Winsock vulnerabilities to target Windows 10 users. All that an attacker needs to do is to find and create a database of Winsock vulnerabilities it could leverage to distribute his malware.
Edge, Microsoft's new browser, uses some HTML library to automatically embed and present HTML files while navigating the web. This is what Java does with applets, and Flash with SWF files -- it unintentionally allows a hacker to append malicious code to HTML files and trigger drive-by attacks, which exploit the HTML library vulnerabilities to target Windows 10 users. All that an attacker needs to do is to find and create a database of HTML library vulnerabilities it could leverage to distribute his malware.
Watch this Heartland Institute video
Why so many mean comments on all stories? What has happened to this place? Since when is it forbidden to report on attack surfaces? 95% of all security articles are just theoretical crap. I don't get what's the bug hubbub about this article and all your comments...
Didn't Microsoft have similar problems with incorporating third party tools into IE4? And that was like what, 1997?
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