Skype Releases Update for Mac Client, Fixes Vulnerability Uncovered by Pure Hacking
Yesterday we were reporting that Skype for Mac is plagued by a critical vulnerability uncovered by Pure Hacking, a group of ethical hackers from Australia. The vulnerability goes something like this: if someone in the Contact list sends the user a specifically crafted message, Skype for Mac would crash. To exploit this vulnerability that someone would have to already be in the Contact list or trick the user into adding him to the list, because by default, Skype for Mac does not accept messages from people who are not in the Contacts list
This vulnerability was addressed by Skype with version 5.1.0.922, but the thing is that users were not prompted to get this update. Skype explained that because there were no reports about this vulnerability being exploited in the wild, users were not presented with a prompt to update to version 5.1.0.922.
This is not to say that they could get the update. They could update Skype for Mac to version 5.1.0.922 by manually triggering an update (by clicking Skype -> Check for updates) or by downloading the latest version from Skype.
Skype did not prompt the users to update because it had another update in the pipeline – version 5.1.0.935, update that has just been pushed to all Skype for Mac users. This update, as Skype’s Chief Information Security Officer Adrian Asher explained, includes the security fixes of version 5.1.0.922 and features some additional product fixes. Skype for Mac users will be automatically prompted to get the update; alternatively they can manually trigger an update. Once the majority of users get the update, Skype will release additional information on the vulnerability uncovered by Pure Hacking.
“Once we have seen a large proportion of our Skype for Mac user base have upgraded to this new version, we will provide further details on the vulnerability in the Skype for Mac client that was raised by Pure Hacking,” said Adrian Asher.
This vulnerability was addressed by Skype with version 5.1.0.922, but the thing is that users were not prompted to get this update. Skype explained that because there were no reports about this vulnerability being exploited in the wild, users were not presented with a prompt to update to version 5.1.0.922.
This is not to say that they could get the update. They could update Skype for Mac to version 5.1.0.922 by manually triggering an update (by clicking Skype -> Check for updates) or by downloading the latest version from Skype.
Skype did not prompt the users to update because it had another update in the pipeline – version 5.1.0.935, update that has just been pushed to all Skype for Mac users. This update, as Skype’s Chief Information Security Officer Adrian Asher explained, includes the security fixes of version 5.1.0.922 and features some additional product fixes. Skype for Mac users will be automatically prompted to get the update; alternatively they can manually trigger an update. Once the majority of users get the update, Skype will release additional information on the vulnerability uncovered by Pure Hacking.
“Once we have seen a large proportion of our Skype for Mac user base have upgraded to this new version, we will provide further details on the vulnerability in the Skype for Mac client that was raised by Pure Hacking,” said Adrian Asher.
