The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Opera update draws the curtain on seven security vulns

Keeping schtum on XSS bug details, though

By John Leyden • Get more from this author

Posted in Spyware, 21st August 2008 13:57 GMT

Free whitepaper – Vulnerability management buyer's checklist

Opera users should upgrade their browser software following the discovery of multiple security bugs.

Version 9.5.2 of the Windows version of the software fixes seven vulnerabilities, including a startup crash that creates a means for hackers to inject hostile code on certain systems (details here). There's also a fix for a cross-site scripting (XSS) bug, details of which Opera is withholding.

XSS flaws, in general, allow hackers to present the content of third party sites under their control in the context of a site they wish to impersonate. The approach is therefore useful in phishing attacks or other similar scams.

The Norwegian firm has published links to advisories about the other six security fixes. The latest version of the browser includes numerous stability and performance improvements as detailed in Opera's release notes here.

An overview of the vulnerabilities can be found in an advisory by security notification firm Secunia here. ®

Free whitepaper – Avoiding 7 common mistakes of IT security compliance

Webcast: Jumpstart your Application Security initiatives