Time to update Firefox...

noel · Post by **noel** » July 9, 2004, 9:07 pm

Shocking news reached the Internet community today when it was found that all pieces of software can be vulnerable to exploits and there is NO magic bullet for Internet security.

www.incidents.org wrote:Time to update Mozilla/Firefox/Thunderbird and Ethereal;

Mozilla and Firefox Update Fixes Vulnerability

It's time to update your browser, though this time the problem is not with Internet Explorer, but with Mozilla and Firefox running on Windows. As described in the eWeek article at http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1621463,00.asp , a flaw in the way Mozilla and Firefox handled links containing the shell: suffix could allow a malicious web site to run arbitrary code on the visitor's system. We advise you to upgrade to Mozilla 1.7.1 or Firefox 0.9.2 to patch this vulnerability. Alternatively, you may install the patch from http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/ ... lblock.xpi

For more information about this vulnerability and ways of addressing it, please see http://mozilla.org/security/shell.html . This URL also points out that Thunderbird, an email client that's part of the Mozilla suite, is vulnerable, and explains how you can address the Thunderbird vulnerability as well.

In other news, Hell is still hot.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » July 9, 2004, 9:10 pm

teehee

"IE lUsers are idiots and they should all start using something safer like Mozilla/Firefox"

"ummmmmmmmmmmmm"

Can't say that you didn't see this coming. I just wonder how long it had been there without being noticed. I read through the eWeek newsletters that addressed it, and it sounded like it was just noticed.

Akaran_D · Post by **Akaran_D** » July 9, 2004, 9:13 pm

hahaha.
Noel has owned you.

noel · Post by **noel** » July 9, 2004, 9:15 pm

Actually, he owned himself.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » July 9, 2004, 9:47 pm

Shocking!

Kguku · Post by **Kguku** » July 9, 2004, 11:12 pm

This is not a mozilla bug, but a bug within how windows handles this function. IE dropped the shell function in SP1, and mozilla still continued to support it. The 'fix' simple removes the shell ability. Again you cannot fault mozilla for an inherrant flaw in how the OS handles it's own function calls.

noel · Post by **noel** » July 9, 2004, 11:23 pm

That's not really the point I'm making.

The simple question is, are you vulnerable to this if you're running Firefox? The 'why you're vulnerable' issue is no surprise at all, but running Firefox will not protect you.

I'm not advocating IE over Firefox, or Firefox over IE, I'm making the point that there is no magic bullet.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » July 9, 2004, 11:27 pm

Kguku wrote:This is not a mozilla bug, but a bug within how windows handles this function. IE dropped the shell function in SP1, and mozilla still continued to support it. The 'fix' simple removes the shell ability. Again you cannot fault mozilla for an inherrant flaw in how the OS handles it's own function calls.

excuses!

Hesten · Post by **Hesten** » July 10, 2004, 3:10 pm

We better hide this thread from Kylere, his own little world will disintegrate if he read it.

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » July 10, 2004, 7:05 pm

Hesten, I am done riding your mom want me to put her away now?

This was a bug, reported, and fixed. IE still has holes that Microsoft has not patched that are being exploited world wide. This fix occured before anyone abused.

IE -still not fixed
Mozilla - Fixed prior to exploits

You can have the car that has known bad brakes, or the one that is fixed before they go bad, you make the call.

Truant · Post by **Truant** » July 10, 2004, 8:51 pm

You all suck! My "Ted's Magic Explorer" is invulnerable and so much better than your weak browsers.

BOW BEFORE ME INFIDELS!

Ransure · Post by **Ransure** » July 10, 2004, 9:46 pm

still no sekurity holes in Avant!

archeiron · Post by **archeiron** » July 10, 2004, 10:14 pm

Ransure wrote:still no sekurity holes in Avant!

I hope this way sarcasm. Otherwise, I will pray for your safety at complicated places like crosswalks and escaltors.

Ransure · Post by **Ransure** » July 11, 2004, 3:15 am

Elevators really fuck with me too... sometimes I just sit there and stare at the buttons with the #'s on them... making decisions is hard...

noel · Post by **noel** » July 11, 2004, 4:33 am

Kylere wrote:Mozilla - Fixed prior to exploits

Keep telling yourself that.

Spang · Post by **Spang** » July 11, 2004, 8:32 am

just cause they haven't found any exploits doesn't mean they aren't there.

ok i'm done.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » July 11, 2004, 11:14 am

Kylere wrote:IE -still not fixed
Mozilla - Fixed prior to exploits

Just because you weren't hit with it doesn't mean nobody was. Obviously something brought the exploit out in the open, and I really doubt it was found by the developers sitting in a room just trying to crack their own code.

80% of the problems that others have had with IE or more, I haven't had.

It's all about the sites you go to and what you do while you're online.

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » July 11, 2004, 1:53 pm

Boogahz wrote:
Kylere wrote:IE -still not fixed
Mozilla - Fixed prior to exploits

Just because you weren't hit with it doesn't mean nobody was. Obviously something brought the exploit out in the open, and I really doubt it was found by the developers sitting in a room just trying to crack their own code.

80% of the problems that others have had with IE or more, I haven't had.

It's all about the sites you go to and what you do while you're online.

There was not a single example of anyone exploiting the Microsoft Windows hole that could have been abused prior to Mozilla releasing a patch that protected it from the flaw in the Windows operating system.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » July 11, 2004, 4:18 pm

Kylere wrote:
Boogahz wrote:
Kylere wrote:IE -still not fixed
Mozilla - Fixed prior to exploits

Just because you weren't hit with it doesn't mean nobody was. Obviously something brought the exploit out in the open, and I really doubt it was found by the developers sitting in a room just trying to crack their own code.

80% of the problems that others have had with IE or more, I haven't had.

It's all about the sites you go to and what you do while you're online.
There was not a single example of anyone exploiting the Microsoft Windows hole that could have been abused prior to Mozilla releasing a patch that protected it from the flaw in the Windows operating system.

archeiron · Post by **archeiron** » July 11, 2004, 6:22 pm

Ransure wrote:Elevators really fuck with me too... sometimes I just sit there and stare at the buttons with the #'s on them... making decisions is hard...

At least it is safer than a crosswalk on a busy street!

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » July 11, 2004, 6:55 pm

Umm Animalor go read the FAQ you dumb fuck, only those incapable of educating themselves have their heads in a hole, like yourself.

"To many of us in the free software community this is somewhat disappointing, yet the speed of the patch's release is not at all unusual. The initial notice was posted to Full Disclosure, a mailing list that helps software be more secure by exposing security flaws as soon as possible, on July 7. A patch was issued the same day, with no known compromises to any systems. Three bug reports were issued on the topic the same day."

http://software.newsforge.com/software/ ... =78&tid=82

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » July 11, 2004, 7:21 pm

Kylere wrote:Umm Animalor go read the FAQ you dumb fuck, only those incapable of educating themselves have their heads in a hole, like yourself.

Your blind devotion to a browser that has hardly proven itself attack proof is as naive as someone else's devotion to a browser that has proven itself attack prone.

I'm not loyal to any software, I just use what works with my shit and I don't like having 2 solutions for 1 problem.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » July 11, 2004, 7:43 pm

I tried out the Firefox thingy and Avant. I like IE. I'll switch when something better comes along. There's nothing better atm. I'm not worried about security holes. If you're a net retard it might be a problem but anyone that can download a patch and keep their system up to date should be fine with IE.

Karae · Post by **Karae** » July 12, 2004, 6:34 am

Is anyone surprised that Mozilla was secure for any reason *other* than its obscurity? Any software app. is going to have a hole - Mozilla was just less of a target than IE. Hopefully it's not time to start shopping for a new browser just yet. If you're one of those sick fucks that wants to write a virus, are you going to go after the web browser tha 2% of Internet browser use or the one that 90+% use? Yeah, it's a no brainer.

Karae · Post by **Karae** » July 12, 2004, 6:38 am

Winnow wrote:I tried out the Firefox thingy and Avant. I like IE. I'll switch when something better comes along. There's nothing better atm. I'm not worried about security holes. If you're a net retard it might be a problem but anyone that can download a patch and keep their system up to date should be fine with IE.

Once again, you're an idiot. Tabbed browsing alone makes Avant worth it. Firefox's customizability via extensions makes it *by far* the best pure browser out there. Couple that with it's lower profile to virii and it's a no brainer.

Anyone that uses IE is worthy of revilement.

You're an idiot. Kill yourself and save evolution the trouble.

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » July 12, 2004, 9:57 am

Yeah, he's a bad person for not liking something!

Akaran_D · Post by **Akaran_D** » July 12, 2004, 9:57 am

wth is tabbed browsing..

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » July 12, 2004, 10:22 am

Akaran_D wrote:wth is tabbed browsing..

It's the win!

http://www.avantbrowser.com/

Kilmoll the Sexy · Post by **Kilmoll the Sexy** » July 12, 2004, 10:52 am

Just ignore the little college boy fuckstain. Someday when he grows up, he might get hit with sudden realizations about the real world. Until then, I am sure mommy and daddy are happy to be paying for junior to be the hell away from them.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » July 12, 2004, 1:52 pm

You guys like tabbed broswing that much?

I tried it and though it was somewhat gimmicky and redundant since you can have all your browser windows in the program bar anyhow.

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » July 12, 2004, 1:57 pm

noel wrote:
I'm not advocating IE over Firefox, or Firefox over IE, I'm making the point that there is no magic bullet.

yes there is!

Linux

noel · Post by **noel** » July 12, 2004, 1:59 pm

LOL. I'd respond to that, but I wouldn't want you to think I took that seriously.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » July 12, 2004, 2:22 pm

Animalor wrote:You guys like tabbed broswing that much?

I tried it and though it was somewhat gimmicky and redundant since you can have all your browser windows in the program bar anyhow.

I regularly have 8 pages tabbed. Why would I want to open 8 IE sessions to do the same thing?

I'm not saying it's for everyone.. But for me it's definitely more functional than gimmick.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » July 12, 2004, 2:25 pm

Karae wrote:
Winnow wrote:I tried out the Firefox thingy and Avant. I like IE. I'll switch when something better comes along. There's nothing better atm. I'm not worried about security holes. If you're a net retard it might be a problem but anyone that can download a patch and keep their system up to date should be fine with IE.
Once again, you're an idiot. Tabbed browsing alone makes Avant worth it. Firefox's customizability via extensions makes it *by far* the best pure browser out there. Couple that with it's lower profile to virii and it's a no brainer.

Anyone that uses IE is worthy of revilement.

You're an idiot. Kill yourself and save evolution the trouble.

Please. Tabbed browsing is overrated. It's a preference that I don't like. What extensions am I missing or can't I get with IE?

Your typical liberal run and hide approach to the virus issue doesn't surprise me. It takes balls the size of churchbells to switch to a minority browser to avoid a problem instead of dealing with it.

noel · Post by **noel** » July 12, 2004, 2:30 pm

I never got tabbed browsing. I have a friend I respect a lot that likes it, but I never really saw the point. I guess Alt-Tabbing and minimizing windows isn't such a big deal for me. /shrug

archeiron · Post by **archeiron** » July 12, 2004, 8:19 pm

noel wrote:I never got tabbed browsing. I have a friend I respect a lot that likes it, but I never really saw the point. I guess Alt-Tabbing and minimizing windows isn't such a big deal for me. /shrug

System resources is another issue. This becomes most apparent when you are running multiple instances of IE and running a memory hog like, say, EverQuest at the same time. Tabbed browsers do not use up resources as quickly because of the efficiency of their implementation.

I like tabbed browsers mixed with mouse gestures to quickly navigate through multiple sites in multiple tabs simultaneously.

Actually, if I had to choose I would take a browser with mouse gestures over a browser with tabbed windows, but I do like having both.

As a web application developer (*sniff* well, director now, so I don't get to program enough anymore

), I do appreciate the fact that Firefox is still being updated to new W3C recommendations while IE is not.

If Microsoft were to begin modernizing IE again, I would probably switch back for the convenience of its seemless integration with other Microsoft products.

p.s. I still take it upon myself to submit feedback once a week to get IE to have full PNG support. Websites would be much sexier with full alpha channel transparency (as opposed to the on-off transparency of GIFs).

Ransure · Post by **Ransure** » July 12, 2004, 9:14 pm

Recently I switched to Avant from years of IE... and wow... the mouse gestures and tabbed browsing really sold me on it... I really dont like my desktop being cluttered and I normally have 3 or 4 browser windows open up at a time....

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » July 12, 2004, 9:28 pm

archeiron wrote:
p.s. I still take it upon myself to submit feedback once a week to get IE to have full PNG support. Websites would be much sexier with full alpha channel transparency (as opposed to the on-off transparency of GIFs).

Full PNG support would be nice.

Karae · Post by **Karae** » July 13, 2004, 7:02 pm

Kilmoll the Sexy wrote:Just ignore the little college boy fuckstain. Someday when he grows up, he might get hit with sudden realizations about the real world. Until then, I am sure mommy and daddy are happy to be paying for junior to be the hell away from them.

Paying my own way through college. Thanks, come again. Not everyone's parents pay their way through school, Mr. "Real World."