SafeUM
Home Blog Services Download Help About Recharge

Axarhöfði 14, 110 Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland - 2015
SafeUM
Blog
Services
Download
Help
About
Recharge
Menu
Archive
TOP Security!
28 Jun 2016

Flaw allowed hackers to deliver malicious images via PayPal

PayPal has addressed a vulnerability that could have been exploited by hackers to insert malicious images into payment pages.

Security researcher Aditya K Sood discovered that the URL of payment pages set up by PayPal users included a parameter called “image_url.” The value of this parameter could have been replaced with a URL pointing to an image hosted on a remote server.

This could have allowed an attacker to use a third-party vendor’s PayPal payment page to deliver malicious images. Sood demonstrated the existence of the flaw by displaying an arbitrary image on a vendor’s payment page, but he believes an attacker could have delivered a piece of malware or an exploit hidden in an image. Cybercriminals have been known to use harmless-looking image files to hide malware. Such techniques have been used by the developers of the Lurk downloader, the Neverquest malware, the Stegoloader infostealer, and a Brazilian Trojan analyzed recently by Kaspersky.

“This is an insecure design as PayPal allows remote users to inject images owned by them into the PayPal components used for transactions by the customers,” Sood told. “That being said, the question is -- can you deliver malware or an exploit through images? The answer is yes. Exploit techniques such as Stegosploit can be used to achieve that.”

An attacker could have exploited this vulnerability by getting an unauthenticated user to click on a specially crafted link. The fact that the URL was hosted on paypal.com increased the likelihood of the victim opening the link. The vulnerability was reported to PayPal in January, but it was patched only this month. The company initially said the report did not qualify for a bounty, but it later decided to fix the flaw and award Sood $1,000 for his findings.

The researcher believes this is a high risk issue and he is displeased that the company disagrees with his assessment. PayPal told the expert that the attack scenario he described is unlikely considering that there are much easier ways to deliver malware. The payment processor also noted that it’s actively scanning for malicious content.

Tags:
PayPal information leaks
Source:
SecurityWeek
2007
Other NEWS
3 Jul 2020 safeum news imgage An encrypted messaging service has been infiltrated by police
4 May 2020 safeum news imgage Two-Factor Authentication ​What Is It and Why You Should Use It
12 Dec 2019 safeum news imgage Encryption is under threat - this is how it affects you
4 Nov 2019 safeum news imgage Should Big Decisions Be Based on Data or Your Intuition?
7 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage VPNFilter malware infecting 500,000 devices is worse than we thought
4 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage Hackers target Booking.com in criminal bid to steal hundreds of thousands from customers
1 Jun 2018 safeum news imgage Operator of World's Top Internet Hub Sues German Spy Agency
30 May 2018 safeum news imgage US says North Korea behind malware attacks
29 May 2018 safeum news imgage Facebook and Google targeted as first GDPR complaints filed
25 May 2018 safeum news imgage A new reason to not buy these cheap Android devices
24 May 2018 safeum news imgage Flaws in smart pet devices, apps could come back to bite owners
23 May 2018 safeum news imgage Google sued for 'clandestine tracking' of 4.4m UK iPhone users' browsing data
21 May 2018 safeum news imgage LocationSmart reportedly leaked phone location data onto the web
18 May 2018 safeum news imgage The SEC created its own scammy ICO to teach investors a lesson
17 May 2018 safeum news imgage Thieves suck millions out of Mexican banks in transfer heist
All news
SafeUM
Confidential Terms of Use Our technologies Company
Follow us
Download
SafeUM © Safe Universal Messenger

Axarhöfði 14,
110 Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland - 2015