May 26, 2017 06:46 AM
(This post was last modified: May 26, 2017 07:24 AM by heremit.)
A team of researchers at Check Point has discovered vulnerabilities in four of the most popular media player applications, which can be exploited by hackers to hijack "any type of device via vulnerabilities; whether it is a PC, a smart TV, or a mobile device" with malicious codes inserted into the subtitle files.These four vulnerable media players (mentioned below) have been downloaded more than 220 million times:
VLC — Popular VideoLAN Media Player
Kodi (XBMC) — Open-Source Media Software
Popcorn Time — Software to watch Movies and TV shows instantly
Stremio — Video Streaming App for Videos, Movies, TV series and TV channels
The vulnerabilities reside in the way various media players process subtitle files and if exploited successfully, could put hundreds of millions of users at risk of getting hacked.
As soon as the media player parses those malicious subtitle files before displaying the actual subtitles on your screen, the hackers are granted full control of your computer or Smart TV on which you ran those files.
How to Protect Your Computer ?
Check Point has already informed the developers of VLC, Kodi, Popcorn Time and Stremio applications about the recently discovered vulnerabilities.All of them have patched the flaws, with Stremio and VLC releasing the patched versions of their software: Stremi 4.0 and VLC 2.2.5 that has been out for two weeks.
However, Kodi developer Martijn Kaijser said the official version 17.2 release would arrive later this week, while users could get a fixed version online. A patch for Popcorn Time is also available online.
So, users are advised to update their media player as soon as possible.
link to the sources: thehackernews. com/2017/05/movie-subtitles-malware.html
VLC — Popular VideoLAN Media Player
Kodi (XBMC) — Open-Source Media Software
Popcorn Time — Software to watch Movies and TV shows instantly
Stremio — Video Streaming App for Videos, Movies, TV series and TV channels
The vulnerabilities reside in the way various media players process subtitle files and if exploited successfully, could put hundreds of millions of users at risk of getting hacked.
As soon as the media player parses those malicious subtitle files before displaying the actual subtitles on your screen, the hackers are granted full control of your computer or Smart TV on which you ran those files.
How to Protect Your Computer ?
Check Point has already informed the developers of VLC, Kodi, Popcorn Time and Stremio applications about the recently discovered vulnerabilities.All of them have patched the flaws, with Stremio and VLC releasing the patched versions of their software: Stremi 4.0 and VLC 2.2.5 that has been out for two weeks.
However, Kodi developer Martijn Kaijser said the official version 17.2 release would arrive later this week, while users could get a fixed version online. A patch for Popcorn Time is also available online.
So, users are advised to update their media player as soon as possible.
link to the sources: thehackernews. com/2017/05/movie-subtitles-malware.html
