CVE-2007-3274 in Safari
Summary
by MITRE
Apple Safari 3.0 and 3.0.1 on Windows XP SP2 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via JavaScript that sets the document.location variable, as demonstrated by an empty value of document.location.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/04/2018
This vulnerability affects Apple Safari versions 3.0 and 3.0.1 running on Windows XP Service Pack 2 systems, representing a critical denial of service weakness that can be exploited through malicious JavaScript code. The flaw specifically manifests when JavaScript attempts to manipulate the document.location variable with an empty value, causing the web browser application to crash and become unavailable to users. This issue demonstrates a classic buffer overflow or memory management problem within Safari's JavaScript engine implementation, where improper validation of the location variable assignment leads to application instability.
The technical execution of this vulnerability involves crafting malicious JavaScript code that sets document.location to an empty string value, which triggers an unhandled exception in Safari's rendering engine. This behavior aligns with CWE-129, which describes improper validation of input data leading to buffer overflows or memory corruption. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it requires no special privileges or user interaction beyond visiting a malicious webpage, making it a prevalent threat in web-based exploitation scenarios. The vulnerability exists in the browser's JavaScript interpreter where it fails to properly sanitize or validate empty location assignments, resulting in an abrupt termination of the application process.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for users who may encounter malicious websites or phishing attacks designed to exploit this weakness. The denial of service condition completely disrupts browser functionality, forcing users to restart their applications and potentially lose unsaved work or session data. Organizations using Safari 3.0 or 3.0.1 on Windows XP systems face heightened exposure to targeted attacks that could be used as part of broader compromise campaigns, as the crash condition provides an opportunity for additional exploitation techniques. This vulnerability also demonstrates the importance of proper input validation in web browsers, as the issue stems from inadequate boundary checking in the document.location property handling mechanism.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability in relation to ATT&CK technique T1211, which involves exploitation of software vulnerabilities to achieve system compromise. The recommended mitigation strategies include immediate patching of Safari to version 3.0.2 or later, which addressed this specific issue through enhanced input validation and proper exception handling for document.location assignments. System administrators should also implement web content filtering solutions and educate users about avoiding untrusted websites that may contain malicious JavaScript. Additionally, maintaining updated browser versions and applying security patches promptly represents the most effective defense against similar vulnerabilities in the browser ecosystem, as this flaw exemplifies the common pattern of input validation failures that lead to application instability and potential privilege escalation attacks.