Apple Safari, critical code bug

Watch out for pop ups

[tangor]

The latest version of Apple's Safari browser contains a critical bug that allows attackers to install malware on end user machines, security researchers have warned.

The flaw in the way Safari handles parent windows can be exploited "to execute arbitrary code when a user visits a specially-crafted webpage and closes opened pop-up windows," vulnerability tracking service Secunia warned here.

The vulnerability could also be exploited using booby-trapped email that's read using Safari, the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team said on Monday. It has been confirmed in version 4.0.5 for Windows, and the latest Mac version may also be affected.

[theregister.co.uk...]

[graeme_p]

Why does email need to be read using a browser with Javascript enabled?

Why, for that matter, does reading email require a heavyweight rendering engine? There are plenty of light embeddable ones that would be harder to exploit.

[tangor]

The popularity of webbased email makes it an ideal avenue for malware attacks... hence using a browser to read email. I do agree that JS, for the most part, should be deactivated at all times... activated only on a case by case basis.