Navigation



Serious XSS Flaw in Google Desktop Allows Data Theft

Last updated: September 9, 2015 | 5,055 views

Google has fixed a security flaw in its desktop search software that created a means for hackers to rifle through personal files on users’ PCs.

A failure in Google Desktop to “properly encode output containing malicious or unexpected characters” created a means for hackers to cross from the web environment to the desktop application environment.

So if you are running Google Desktop we suggest you update it ASAP.

The attack, outlined in a paper (PDF) released by the firm, uses a cross-site scripting (XSS) flaw in the Google Desktop application in conjunction with any other XSS flaw in the Google.com domain to install malicious JavaScript on the user’s computer. Using the technique, an attacker could create a JavaScript program that Google Desktop repeatedly runs, allowing the attacker to search a victim’s computer using terms most likely to dredge up interesting data.

Google released an updated version of Google Desktop that fixes the local cross-site scripting flaw earlier this month, but many users may not have gotten the patch, said Danny Allan, director of security research for Watchfire. Because of the popularity of Google Desktop, there could be a large number of users with vulnerable systems.

Read More:

Google Desktop flaw allows data theft
Google patches critical desktop flaw
Serious Flaw in Google Desktop Prompts Patch

Share
Tweet
Share
Buffer
WhatsApp
Email
0 Shares
Posted in: Exploits/Vulnerabilities, Hacking News

, , , ,


Latest Posts:


Karkinos - Beginner Friendly Penetration Testing Tool Karkinos – Beginner Friendly Penetration Testing Tool
Karkinos is a light-weight Beginner Friendly Penetration Testing Tool, which is basically a 'Swiss Army Knife' for pen-testing and/or hacking CTF's.
August 31, 2021 - 162 Shares
Aclpwn.Py - Exploit ACL Based Privilege Escalation Paths in Active Directory Aclpwn.Py – Exploit ACL Based Privilege Escalation Paths in Active Directory
Aclpwn.py is a tool that interacts with BloodHound< to identify and exploit ACL based privilege escalation paths.
July 7, 2021 - 148 Shares
Vulhub - Pre-Built Vulnerable Docker Environments For Learning To Hack Vulhub – Pre-Built Vulnerable Docker Environments For Learning To Hack
Vulhub is an open-source collection of pre-built vulnerable docker environments for learning to hack. No pre-existing knowledge of docker is required, just execute two simple commands.
May 27, 2021 - 266 Shares
LibInjection - Detect SQL Injection (SQLi) and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) LibInjection – Detect SQL Injection (SQLi) and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
LibInjection is a C library to Detect SQL Injection (SQLi) and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) through lexical analysis of real-world Attacks.
May 7, 2021 - 140 Shares
Grype - Vulnerability Scanner For Container Images & Filesystems Grype – Vulnerability Scanner For Container Images & Filesystems
Grype is a vulnerability scanner for container images and filesystems with an easy to install binary that supports the packages for most major *nix based OS.
April 19, 2021 - 248 Shares
APT-Hunter - Threat Hunting Tool via Windows Event Log APT-Hunter – Threat Hunting Tool via Windows Event Log
APT-Hunter is a threat hunting tool for windows event logs made from the perspective of the purple team mindset to provide detection for APT movements hidden in the sea of windows event logs.
March 5, 2021 - 265 Shares


Comments are closed.