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Microsoft Modifies Open-Source Code, Blows Hole in Windows Defender

posted by chromas on Monday April 09 2018, @06:12PM   
from the (unsigned⠀int) dept.

mrpg writes:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/04/04/microsoft_windows_defender_rar_bug/

A remote-code execution vulnerability in Windows Defender – a flaw that can be exploited by malicious .rar files to run malware on PCs – has been traced back to an open-source archiving tool Microsoft adopted for its own use.

[...] Apparently, Microsoft forked that version of unrar and incorporated the component into its operating system's antivirus engine. That forked code was then modified so that all signed integer variables were converted to unsigned variables, causing knock-on problems with mathematical comparisons. This in turn left the software vulnerable to memory corruption errors, which can crash the antivirus package or allow malicious code to potentially execute.

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Original Submission

• Re:C / C++ (Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Monday April 09 2018, @09:11PM

  by DannyB (5839) on Monday April 09 2018, @09:11PM (#664681) Journal

  Back in the day, I liked Modula 3. At least the specification. As a Pascal programmer, I dreamed of being able to have Modula 3. But things moved on. I learned Lisp, and C seemed to take over the world.

  --
  To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.

  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+1
  Interesting=1, Total=1
  Extra 'Interesting' Modifier		0
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		3