On Sat, 31 Aug 1996, Mark M. wrote:
On Sat, 31 Aug 1996, Paul S. Penrod wrote:
Binary launches are the way they do it, and the way a virus spreads, unless you get caught up with autoexecuting Word and Excel macros.
I have yet to see *any* truly data propogating viruses.
Would you count the fingerd exploit used in the Internet Worm as a data propogating virus? If a poorly written mail program doesn't do bounds checking, it could conceivably allow for a Good Times-like virus. However, highly unlikely, since mail programs are too diverse and it would be very doubtful that a brain-dead mail program would become very widespread. I would be much more worried about other non-email programs that fail to do bounds checking (like Netscape v1.1).
-- Mark
No, I wouldn't consider the fingerd exploit a data propogated virus in the same sense as data embedded in a purely passive activity (viewing an image file) which somehow launches a vicious nasty on your disk. However, you do bring up an interesting point in that example. Netscape and programs of that ilk, IMO, yield antoher exploitable pathway into a system, should someone figure a method to shove a jam into the doorway to keep the door open long enough to allow a renegade proc to be started and executed outside the control of the local operator. ...Paul