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FF IDN buffer overflow workaround works in Netscape too



Summary about Firefox IDN buffer overflow vulnerability workarounds in Netscape Browser

[a new, more informative title used]

Instructions and methods described at Mozilla Foundation Security Advisory "What Firefox and Mozilla users should know about the IDN buffer overflow security issue" https://addons.mozilla.org/messages/307259.html (yes, it was http://www.mozilla.org/security/idn.html earlier) can be used in Netscape too. This advisory has been included to security company advisories handling this security issue and mentioned in the news widely.

Disabling IDN (Internationalized Domain Names) support via about:config Location Bar feature or prefs.js configuration file is possible in Netscape Browser 8 too. Additionally, .xpi file for Firefox and Mozilla Suite works in Netscape 8.0.3.3 too. Test in Windows environment was successful and even UA was changed to include '....Gecko/20050729 <<(No IDN)>> Netscape/8.0.3.3' string.
However, the manual method is recommended.
Vendor developer team was contacted, no reply yet.

Like US-CERT says in Firefox VU#573857: "While implementing this workaround does not correct the buffer overflow error, it prevents the vulnerable portion of code from being exploited."

When an updated version of Netscape Browser 8 is available the download link is http://browser.netscape.com/ns8/download/default.jsp

Regards,
Juha-Matti Laurio
Security researcher
Finland