Sony XCP uninstaller a greater security risk than rootkit?

15 Nov 05 22:51 by Crabbyappleton in category Uncategorized To news archive

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Thanks to
a comment by member heystoopid in another article, we can read now that the Freedom-to-Tinker website has discovered another reason why Sony is so anxious to pull their First4Internet infested Cd’s.

Over the weekend a Finnish researcher named Muzzy noticed a potential vulnerability in the web-based uninstaller that Sony offers to users who want to remove the First4Internet XCP copy protection software. We took a detailed look at the software and discovered that it is indeed possible for an attacker to exploit this weakness. For affected users, this represents a far greater security risk than even the original Sony rootkit.

The consequences of the flaw are severe. It allows any web page you visit to download, install, and run any code it likes on your computer. Any web page can seize control of your computer; then it can do anything it likes. That’s about as serious as a security flaw can get.

The root of the problem is a serious design flaw in Sony’s web-based uninstaller. When you first fill out href="http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/form9.html"
>Sony’s form to request a copy of the uninstaller, the request form downloads and installs a program ‘“ an ActiveX control created by the DRM vendor, First4Internet ‘“ called CodeSupport. CodeSupport remains on your system after you leave Sony’s site, and it is marked as safe for scripting, so any web page can ask CodeSupport to do things. One thing CodeSupport can be told to do is download and install code from an Internet site. Unfortunately, CodeSupport doesn’t verify that the downloaded code actually came from Sony or First4Internet. This means any web page can make CodeSupport download and install code from any URL without asking the user’s permission.

A malicious web site author can write an evil program, package up that program appropriately, put the packaged code at some URL, and then write a web page that causes CodeSupport to download and run code from that URL. If you visit that web page with Internet Explorer, and you have previously requested Sony’s uninstaller, then the evil program will be downloaded, installed, and run on your computer, immediately and automatically. Your goose will be cooked.

This Sony and First4Internet union was a marriage made in heaven…for attorney’s. It is really getting ugly for both these companies, there is no way they can escape harsh penalties if this story is accurate. Let’s hope that they are held feet to the fire until the damage is rectified, if that is even possible now. What a mess!

Source: Freedom to Tinker

4 Comments

dentman42: Posts: 648; Posted on: 16 Nov 05 00:56

The thing that gets to me is all these articles that refer to it as an uninstaller. From everything I've seen all it does is unhide the DRM, it doesn't uninstall it.

Sherrif: Posts: 851; Posted on: 16 Nov 05 02:34

I guess this is what occurs when when your business mantra is "minimum outlay for maximum gain"........how unprofessional..how sloppy!! sad really.............:X

jandevries145: Posts: 35; Posted on: 16 Nov 05 23:53

From all the music i got from p2p, i never ever got someting even remotely as dangerous as that infamous sony rootkit. So for savety reasons i encourage everybody in my country to dowload music and not to buy it. (downloading music is legal in my country). mmmm i wonder how other record companies "protect" their cd's.

Bert VI: Posts: 19; Posted on: 17 Nov 05 23:39

I assume, by your name, that you are Dutch or Flemish. Downloading music files you haven't purchased first is illegal in both Belgium and The Netherlands. So, of course I wonder from which country you actually are.

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Sony XCP uninstaller a greater security risk than rootkit?

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