p2p news / p2pnet: Professor Ed Felten and Alex Halderman, the Princeton researchers who discovered a serious security hole in CDs supposedly protected by SunnComm DRM, now say all CDs carrying the software should immediately be taken off the shelves.

SunnComm released a patch that’s supposed to fix the gaping security hole in its MediaMax Version 5 DRM (Digital Restriction Management) software and, “EFF and SONY BMG urge all consumers who receive notice to download and install the patch immediately,” says an EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation ) statement.

However, the SunnComm fix doesn’t fix anything, say Felten and Halderman, warning Windows users who’ve bought and used the Sony BMG SunnComm CDs not to use the MediaMax patch, not to use the previously released MediaMax uninstaller, and not to insert a MediaMax-bearing CD into their PCs.

“We have notified SonyBMG and MediaMax about these problems,” they say in Felten’s Freedom to Tinker blog.

“SonyBMG has released a patch that purports to fix the problem,” they state. “However, our tests show that the patch is insecure. It turns out that there is a way an adversary can booby-trap the MediaMax files so that hostile software is run automatically when you install and run the MediaMax patch.

“The previously released MediaMax uninstaller is also insecure in the same way, allowing an adversary to booby-trap files so that hostile software is run automatically when you try to use the uninstaller.”

A MediaMax file folder installed on users’ computers without their knowledge or permission, “could allow malicious third parties who have localized, lower-privilege access to gain control over a consumer’s computer running the Windows operating system,” said the EFF.

Then on Tuesday, it issued a press release saying, “The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and SONY BMG Music Entertainment (SONY BMG) said today that SunnComm is making available a software update to address a security vulnerability with its MediaMax Version 5 content protection software on certain SONY BMG compact discs (CDs).”

“We’re pleased that SONY BMG responded quickly and responsibly when we drew their attention to this security problem,” EFF staff attorney Kurt Opsahl said in the EFF statement.

The first bug centred on a Sony BMG rootkit spyware DRM package which was also secretly installed on the computers of people who’d bought certain music CDs.

Sony recalled the CDs and is issuing replacements.

However, the poisoned MediaMax Version 5 CDs are still out there. Go here for a list of the affected CDs.

“SONY BMG will notify consumers about this vulnerability and the update through the banner functionality included on the player, as well as through an internet-based advertising campaign,” said the EFF statement. “The update is also being provided to major software and Internet security companies.”

While this is a positive step, it’ll fail to reach users who have rejected the MediaMax license agreement, observe Felten and Halderman. “This group is at particularly high risk, since they are probably unaware that the software is installed on their computers.

“Worst of all, it is impossible to patch the millions of MediaMax-bearing CDs that are already out there. Every disc sitting on somebody’s shelf, or in a record-store bin, is just waiting to install the vulnerable software on the next PC it is inserted into.

“The only sure way to address this risk is take the discs out of circulation.”

Also read:-

EFF and SONY BMG – SunnComm Dangerous DRM patch, December 7, 2005
Freedom to Tinker – MediaMax Bug Found; Patch Issued; Patch Suffers from Same Bug, December 7, 2005

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 8th, 2005 at 10:56 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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