Mac OS X Security Update

Apple today posted a security update to resolve issues with loading corrupted or malicious PNG-format graphics as well as documented Safari and networking issues. Apple says the Security Update 2004-08-09, available via the Software Update--as a standalone update to those who have yet to apply the Mac OS X 10.3.5 update and Mac OS X 10.2.8 users and included with Mac OS X 10.3.5. ( was noted earlier today on MacNN. [updated with more security fix details]

• libpng (Portable Network Graphics) (CAN-2002-1363, CAN-2004-0421, CAN-2004-0597, CAN-2004-0598, CAN-2004-0599). "Impact: Malicious png images can cause application crashes and could execute arbitrary code.
  
  
  
  "Description: A number of buffer overflows, null pointer dereferences and integer overflows have been discovered in the reference library for reading and writing PNG images. These vulnerabilities have been
  corrected in libpng which is used by the CoreGraphics and AppKit frameworks in Mac OS X. After installing this update, applications that use the PNG image format via these frameworks will be protected against these flaws." Note: The libpng security fixes are also available separately for Mac
  OS X 10.3.4 and Mac OS X 10.2.8 via Security Update 2004-08-09."
  


• Safari (CAN-2004-0743): Impact: In a special situation, navigation using the forward/backward buttons can re-send form data to a GET url.
  
  
  
  "Description: This is for a situation where a web form is sent to a server using a POST method which issues an HTTP redirect to a GET
  method url. Using the forward/backward buttons will cause Safari to
  re-POST the form data to the GET url. Safari has been modified so
  that in this situation forward/backward navigation will result in only
  a GET method."
  
  


• 
  
  TCP/IP Networking (CAN-2004-0744). Impact: Maliciously crafted IP fragments can use too many system resources preventing normal network operation.
  
  
  
  Description: The "Rose Attack" describes a specially constructed
  sequence of IP fragments designed to consume system resources. The
  TCP/IP implementation has been modified to limit the resources
  consumed and prevents this denial of service attack.
  

by MacNN Staff