onMouseOver() Twitter security flaw (+Update)

A Twitter security flaw is being widely exploited on Twitter, showing remote content from third-party websites without user’s consent.

The flaw uses a JavaScript function called onMouseOver() which creates an event when the mouse is passed over a text or link. Any user can use this flaw to

create simple popups, redirect the page to somewhere else, retweet some messages or hide parts of the message.

The link has to be constructed in such a way that it starts with http://twitter.com/<text>@”onmouseover=”<code>”

The problem is that Twitter doesn’t filter the code, it instead executes it.

To overcome the problem, use some 3rd party websites to work with Twitter. These website use the API directly and not the twitter.com website GUI.

Another solution is to use the mobile website, which doesn’t seem to have the flaw.

Update: Twitter fixed the problem : http://blog.twitter.com/2010/09/all-about-onmouseover-incident.html


© Copyright Sorin Mustaca, All rights Reserved. Written For: Sorin Mustaca on Cybersecurity




Check www.endpoint-cybersecurity.com for seeing the consulting services we offer.

Visit www.itsecuritynews.info for latest security news in English
Besuchen Sie de.itsecuritynews.info für IT Sicherheits News auf Deutsch

About the Author

Sorin Mustaca
Sorin Mustaca, (ISC)2 CSSLP, CompTIA Security+ and Project+, is working since over 20 years in the IT Security industry and worked between 2003-2014 for Avira as Product Manager for the known products used by over 100 million users world-wide. Today he is CEO and owner of Endpoint Cybersecurity GmbH focusing on Cybersecurity, secure software development and security for IoT and Automotive. He is also running his personal blog Sorin Mustaca on Cybersecurity and is the author of the free eBook Improve your security .
%d bloggers like this: