CVE-2008-3637

The Hash-based Message Authentication Code (HMAC) provider in Java on Apple Mac OS X 10.4.11, 10.5.4, and 10.5.5 uses an uninitialized variable, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted applet, related to an error checking issue.

Weakness

The product does not initialize or incorrectly initializes a resource, which might leave the resource in an unexpected state when it is accessed or used.

Affected Software

Potential Mitigations

• Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
• For example, in Java, if the programmer does not explicitly initialize a variable, then the code could produce a compile-time error (if the variable is local) or automatically initialize the variable to the default value for the variable’s type. In Perl, if explicit initialization is not performed, then a default value of undef is assigned, which is interpreted as 0, false, or an equivalent value depending on the context in which the variable is accessed.

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/26.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/29.html

References

• http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce//2008/Sep/msg00007.html
• http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce//2008/Sep/msg00008.html
• http://secunia.com/advisories/32018
• http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3178
• http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3179
• http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/31379
• http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1020943
• https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/45396