Opera 10.5.4: Recommended Security Update for Windows and Mac
Computer users that have their machine running on the Microsoft-developed Windows operating system, as well as users who are running Apple’s Mac OS X, need to update their Opera browser from version 10.5.3 to the newly released version 10.5.4. There is one simple reason why they need to do that: Opera 10.5.4 is a security update. Norwegian developer Opera Software advises all users to get the latest version as soon as possible and stay protected.
Opera 10.5.4 for Windows fixes two extremely severe issues – and a highly severe issue, and a moderately severe issue, and a less sever issue. Details on just one issue have been disclosed by Opera – details on the other issues “will be disclosed at a later date.”
Opera disclosed details on one of the extremely severe issues – “A flaw in the font handling on the Windows operating system has been fixed by Microsoft. On unpatched systems, Web fonts may be used to exploit this issue through Opera.” Opera disclosed details about this security hole only because Microsoft already released a patch for it with security bulletin MS10-032 during this month’s Patch Tuesday.
Here are the details on MS10-032
Title: Vulnerabilities in Windows Kernel-Mode Drivers Could Allow Elevation of Privilege
Rating: Important
Description: Two publicly disclosed vulnerabilities and one privately reported vulnerability in the Windows kernel-mode drivers. The vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if a user views content rendered in a specially crafted TrueType font.
Most likely attack vector: Attacker already running code with low privileges on a vulnerable machine runs a malicious EXE to elevate to a higher privilege level.
Affected software: Microsoft Windows
Opera 10.5.4 for Mac fixes an extremely severe issue, a highly severe issue, a moderately severe issue, and a less severe issue. We have no idea what these issues are because “details will be disclosed at a later date.”
If you would like to get Opera 10.5.4, you can download the web browser here.
The change lof for Windows is avaialble here, the change log for Mac here.
Opera 10.5.4 for Windows fixes two extremely severe issues – and a highly severe issue, and a moderately severe issue, and a less sever issue. Details on just one issue have been disclosed by Opera – details on the other issues “will be disclosed at a later date.”
Opera disclosed details on one of the extremely severe issues – “A flaw in the font handling on the Windows operating system has been fixed by Microsoft. On unpatched systems, Web fonts may be used to exploit this issue through Opera.” Opera disclosed details about this security hole only because Microsoft already released a patch for it with security bulletin MS10-032 during this month’s Patch Tuesday.
Here are the details on MS10-032
Title: Vulnerabilities in Windows Kernel-Mode Drivers Could Allow Elevation of Privilege
Rating: Important
Description: Two publicly disclosed vulnerabilities and one privately reported vulnerability in the Windows kernel-mode drivers. The vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if a user views content rendered in a specially crafted TrueType font.
Most likely attack vector: Attacker already running code with low privileges on a vulnerable machine runs a malicious EXE to elevate to a higher privilege level.
Affected software: Microsoft Windows
Opera 10.5.4 for Mac fixes an extremely severe issue, a highly severe issue, a moderately severe issue, and a less severe issue. We have no idea what these issues are because “details will be disclosed at a later date.”
If you would like to get Opera 10.5.4, you can download the web browser here.
The change lof for Windows is avaialble here, the change log for Mac here.
