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2 Firefox Add-Ons Contain Trojans

- By - Source : Tom's Guide US

Mozilla's malware scan failed to detect Trojans found in two Firefox add-ons.

This Mozilla blog reports that two "experimental" add-ons for Firefox contains Trojan code designed to hijack Windows-based PCs.

Mozilla said Thursday that the Win32.LdPinch.gen Trojan was found in v4.0 of the Sothink Web Video Downloader add-on, and the Win32.Bifrose.32.Bifrose Trojan was discovered in all versions of Master Filer. Mozilla said that both Trojans will infect the host computer once the user installs the add-ons and re-launches the browser.

"Uninstalling these add-ons does not remove the trojan from a user’s system," Mozilla said. "Users with either of these add-ons should uninstall them immediately. Since uninstalling these extensions does not remove the trojan from a user’s system, an antivirus program should be used to scan and remove any infections."

Mozilla said that Master Filer was downloaded from the Mozilla Add-Ons website (AMO) around 600 times between September 2009 and January 2010. Version 4.0 of Sothink Web Video Downloader was downloaded around 4,000 times between February 2008 and May 2008.

Both Firefox add-ons have now been removed from the website.

The developer admitted that its malware scanner failed when checking the Master Filer add-on during the upload process. That problem has now been fixed.

"Two additional malware detection tools have been added to the validation chain and all add-ons were rescanned, which revealed the additional Trojan in Version 4.0 of Sothink Web Video Downloader," the company said. "No other instances of malware have been discovered."

Internet Explorer was said to have giggled uncontrollably upon receipt of the news.

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Tedders 02/05/2010 7:16 PM
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And then Internet Explorer said SHIT they fixed it.

chronicbint 02/05/2010 7:19 PM
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marsax73 02/05/2010 7:27 PM
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4ILY45 02/05/2010 7:34 PM
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Does it affects FF 3.6?
I run all my all internet browser in a safe run (sandbox or forcefield) environment. Much safer.

leo2kp 02/05/2010 7:35 PM
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"Mozilla's malware scan failed to detect Trojans found in to Firefox add-ons."

Shouldn't it be "...found in two (2) Firefox add-ons."? Just a thought.

darkknight22 02/05/2010 7:37 PM
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at least they fixed it quickly instead of doing it the M$ way and passing it on to the next engineering crew and hoping it'll be fixed in a service pack years later.

zerghumper 02/05/2010 7:39 PM
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@Chronicbint,

I agree that it isn't as good as it used to be, but to be honest I still think it's far superior to IE. Just out of curiosity, what browser do you use?

phexac 02/05/2010 7:55 PM
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Well it was only a matter of time until hackers realized that FF has big enough market share to warrant attention. I have recently switched to Opera and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

tomtompiper 02/05/2010 7:56 PM
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Lets get this into perspective, these are two very marginal addons affecting 4,600 people. The IE6 problem affects many millions, I think this is almost a non story, any sensible Windows user will have their Anti-Virus up to date.

mrcmark 02/05/2010 7:59 PM
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Quote :Mozilla said that Master Filer was downloaded from the Mozilla Add-Ons website (AMO) around 600 times between September 2009 and January 2010. Version 4.0 of Sothink Web Video Downloader was downloaded around 4,000 times between February 2008 and May 2008.


crap. I bet this made a lot of damage.

JohnnyLucky 02/05/2010 9:27 PM
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based on all the aricles that were written it seemed as if it would just a matter of time before something like this happened. Popularity does have a negative side to it.

ikefu 02/05/2010 9:47 PM
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Do remember that this was the fault of Mozilla's servers and not of the actual Firefox program itself.

I'm running FF 3.6 and love it.

WheelsOfConfusion 02/05/2010 10:43 PM
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Wonder if any legal action could be taken against the addons' makers.

ukcal 02/05/2010 10:45 PM
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Maybe it's time the market share needs to become more balanced and spread out. I have switched from IE8 to Safari and now Chrome. Mobilewise I use Opera Mobile (this comment comes from that browser). If the market share became more spread out, there would be no one particular browser attracting attention. Also, because of the increased competition, the companies will keep enhancing and securing their products to try and maintain a competitive edge.
I understand the market share won't suddenly change within a short space of time, but in the long run it would create a better browsing experience for all users.

Anonymous 02/05/2010 10:47 PM
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They are also experimental add-ons, effectively betas. Anyone running beta software should be looking out for some sort of trouble.

chronicbint 02/05/2010 11:19 PM
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tamalero 02/05/2010 11:26 PM
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chronic: stop installing ponys and animated crap into your firefox, might fix your problems ;)

chronicbint 02/05/2010 11:34 PM
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I dont have any problems, its just not the be all and end all of browsers.

choujij 02/06/2010 1:10 AM
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@chronicbint

Yes it is. But nothing is perfect, and this is not the fault of the browser.

maigo 02/06/2010 1:27 AM
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Maybe thats why there's a warning before you install any add-on?

Netherscourge 02/06/2010 1:56 AM
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Oh look - Firefox delivers trojans just like every other browser does.

rbarone69 02/06/2010 2:02 AM
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Is it just me or did the title of the article make others think of sex and not viruses or horses filled with stinky men...

SininStyle 02/06/2010 2:23 PM
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Microsoft Patching 17-year-old Windows/DOS Bug

A vulnerability found in Internet Explorer could expose your files to the Internet.

Microsoft Patches IE Flaw Used in Google Hacking
OR
Mozilla's malware scan failed to detect Trojans found in two Firefox add-ons.

jtt283 02/06/2010 4:45 PM
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No, you don't take "legal action" against the malware writers. You identify them, prove them guilty (need not be in court), and put them down. GAME OVER.

steiner666 02/06/2010 7:27 PM
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lol who would want either of those shitty add-ons to begin with? Most ppl i know who use FF have a selected handful of add-ons which they always use/trust and only add new ones if they hear a ton of positive opinions about them and actually need the added functionality that they offer.

Anyways, this is the inherent drawback to having a program compatible with user-made add-ons, you run the risk of the creators of the add-ons being total malware asshats. Much better than IE and Chrome still though, in stability, security and usability.

I clean infected PCs every day at work and there are countless, horribly infected computers with IE or Chrome as the default browser, but the number of horribly infected computers i've cleaned with FF as the default in the past 6 months, i could probably count on one hand.

I install FF with adblock on the PCs i repair, and some ppl just refuse to switch from IE, why i have no idea, but they end up coming back in a few months. It also doesn't help matters that ppl still think that just because their PCs came with norton/mcafee installed on them that they'll actually have active (or even passive) protection against malware and such. Eset/NOD32 with spybot+teatimer (set for auto nightly updates/scans) has been the only combination of protection software that I've found to protect these customers from their own poor browsing habits (btw, malwarebytes pro has failed to detect/block numerous things that SB does). A bit of an off topic rant, but i'm waiting for this spybot scan to finish anyways lol.

_Cubase_ 02/07/2010 11:51 PM
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Well now that the malware targeted for Firefox is rolling in it's time people got back to doing what they should always be doing: keeping their anti-malwayre/spyware software up-to-date, instead of bitching about which browser is more secure.

aford10 02/08/2010 1:08 AM
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Laugh it up IE. I don't think anyone's forgotten about the huge security gap in IE7. That's what drove many people to firefox in the first place.

mitch074 02/08/2010 1:59 AM
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Well, that was bound to happen - a server is a server, and a binary file is a binary file. It is not the first time, and it won't be the last time, that a publicly accessible repository sees some undetected malware in.

Who is to blame here? Mozilla for not having used enough antivirus solutions stacked one on top of the other to scan third party additions (remember that IE doesn't list unsponsored add-ons that never get updated, don't often work and are almost never free), add-on writers for not scanning their files (it seems that in Master Filer's case at least, it was detected but the writer thought it was a false positive), or users for downloading and not scanning a piece of software they were about to use - as prompted (and forced to wait) on every Firefox add-on install?

Next, Firefox add-ons don't require system-wide install on any OS of any version (including Windows XP). Whoever was dumb enough to install them on an administrator account, thus allowing them to install their payloads?

Oh. Right. We're talking Windows users here. People that think that browsing the Web with administrator rights is pretty nifty.

qvnguyen 02/08/2010 7:06 AM
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Who cares, Firefox still rocks. If you're so inept as to download these add-ons without checking them first then you deserve to get infected.

I'm not bashing Internet Explorer because I still use it from time to time for certain websites. Sh.it happens. Deal with it.

r3t4rd 02/08/2010 9:52 AM
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Really people? Does it really matter what browser you use? AGAIN - no matter how much security software/hardware you have on your PC, it doesn't help the fact if you have morons infront of the PC.

That is why this is a perfect example. FF was safe until idiots installed the addons. IE was safe until idiots visited unsecure websites.