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[ For Public Release ]
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The U.S. Department of Energy
Computer Incident Advisory Capability
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INFORMATION BULLETIN
Netscape Navigator Security Vulnerability
June 26, 1997 17:00 GMT Number H-76
______________________________________________________________________________
PROBLEM: A problem has been identified in the Netscape Navigator.
PLATFORM: All platforms running Netscape Navigator 2.0, 3.0, and
Communicator 4.0.
DAMAGE: This vulnerability may allow a Web site operator to retrieve
known files from the hard disks of visiting users by mimicking
the submission of a form.
SOLUTION: Apply the workaround or the appropriate patch provided below.
______________________________________________________________________________
VULNERABILITY The exploit is not currently available but knownledge of this
ASSESSMENT: vulnerability has been highly publicized by the media.
______________________________________________________________________________
Introduction
============
Recently, the Internet community was made aware of a bug in the Netscape
Navigator. Netscape engineers were able to recreated the bug in Netscape
Communicator and Navigator 2.0 and 3.0.
Known as the privacy bug, it may allow a Web site operator to retrieve known
files from the hard disks of visiting users by mimicking the submission of a
form. Under ordinary circumstances, users browsing on known, trusted sites
are not at risk. However, if a user visits an unknown, untrusted site, the
operator of that site could potentially retrieve files from a user's hard disk
through an obscure series of steps. To access a file on the hard drive the
Web site operator would need to know the exact name and location of the file.
Even though the bug has been highly publicized, this factor in itself limits
the possibility of this vulnerability being exploited.
Netscape released the following statement: "The execution of this attack
requires specific knowledge of the user's machine to cause harm and so is
unlikely to be reproduced. Because this specific bug has existed for more
than a year and a half since Navigator 2.0 -- and Netscape has never had a
report about this bug or any loss based on this bug -- we believe the risk
to users from this bug is relatively low."
CIAC recommends that you apply the workarounds or the appropriate patch
provided below.
Workarounds
===========
To remove any risk of this bug, Navigator users should download
the updated version of Communicator or Navigator, that includes the fix.
In the interim, users of Navigator 3.0 and Communicator 4.0 can take the
following steps to enable warning dialog boxes to detect and cancel form
submissions:
In Navigator 3.0: Go to the Options menu and select Security
Preferences. Select the "Submitting a Form
Insecurely" preference to enable that warning
dialog box.
In Navigator 4.0: Select the lock in the toolbar to open the
Security Advisor. Select Navigator, then select
the "Sending Unencrypted Information to a Site"
preference to enable that warning dialog box.
Patches or Upgrades
===================
Communicator 4.01 for Windows (includes the fix for privacy bug)
http://home.netscape.com/download/client_download.html?communicator4.01
Navigator 3.0
Fix pending per Netscape
______________________________________________________________________________
CIAC wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Netscape for the
information contained in this bulletin.
______________________________________________________________________________
CIAC, the Computer Incident Advisory Capability, is the computer
security incident response team for the U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) and the emergency backup response team for the National
Institutes of Health (NIH). CIAC is located at the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory in Livermore, California. CIAC is also a founding
member of FIRST, the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, a
global organization established to foster cooperation and coordination
among computer security teams worldwide.
CIAC services are available to DOE, DOE contractors, and the NIH. CIAC
can be contacted at:
Voice: +1 510-422-8193
FAX: +1 510-423-8002
STU-III: +1 510-423-2604
E-mail: ciac@llnl.gov
For emergencies and off-hour assistance, DOE, DOE contractor sites,
and the NIH may contact CIAC 24-hours a day. During off hours (5PM -
8AM PST), call the CIAC voice number 510-422-8193 and leave a message,
or call 800-759-7243 (800-SKY-PAGE) to send a Sky Page. CIAC has two
Sky Page PIN numbers, the primary PIN number, 8550070, is for the CIAC
duty person, and the secondary PIN number, 8550074 is for the CIAC
Project Leader.
Previous CIAC notices, anti-virus software, and other information are
available from the CIAC Computer Security Archive.
World Wide Web: http://ciac.llnl.gov/
Anonymous FTP: ciac.llnl.gov (198.128.39.53)
Modem access: +1 (510) 423-4753 (28.8K baud)
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CIAC has several self-subscribing mailing lists for electronic
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1. CIAC-BULLETIN for Advisories, highest priority - time critical
information and Bulletins, important computer security information;
2. CIAC-NOTES for Notes, a collection of computer security articles;
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You will receive an acknowledgment email immediately with a confirmation
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If you include the word 'help' in the body of an email to the above address,
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PLEASE NOTE: Many users outside of the DOE, ESnet, and NIH computing
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This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an
agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States
Government nor the University of California nor any of their
employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any
legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or
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disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately
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University of California. The views and opinions of authors expressed
herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States
Government or the University of California, and shall not be used for
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