Samba error opens the door for hackers to attack Mac

Security firm Symantec on May 29 warned hackers could easily attack Mac OS X through a deadly Samba application security vulnerability built into the operating system.

Samba is an application that allows Mac users to enable the Windows Sharing feature to allow Windows users to be able to access files and print on Mac network systems.

This application suffers from a fatal buffer overflow error. The exploit code for this error has been released for testing purposes. However, unless the exploit code has been distributed to the Internet.

Symantec's DeepSight threat analysis team succeeded in taking advantage of the Samba security flaw to attack a system running Mac OS X 10.4.9 that was fully installed with patches.

Mac OS X does not activate Samba by default. That's why only Mac users participating in a shared network system with Windows face the risk of being attacked.

Users are advised to quickly upgrade to the latest Samba version by simply since 2005 until now Apple has not upgraded this application for Mac OS X.

Hoang Dung