Security threats Toolkit

Opera rolls out security patch

Dawn Kawamoto CNET News

Published: 23 Nov 2005 09:50 GMT

Opera issued a security patch on Tuesday to protect users against flaws in Macromedia's Flash Player and in some versions of its browser running on Linux or Unix.

The update, Opera 8.51, addresses flaws that could allow a malicious attacker to remotely take control of a user's system, according to an advisory issued by Opera.

One such vulnerability was found in versions of Opera 7 and Opera 8 running on Linux, FreeBSD or Solaris software. The flaw could allow an attacker to remotely execute arbitrary shell commands on a user's computer by tricking him or her into clicking on a link to malicious Web sites, according to a security advisory from Secunia. A command shell lets users enter text-based commands.

The security patch also is designed to address a flaw in Flash Player in versions of Opera 5 through 8, according to Secunia.

Last June, Opera issued a patch, the 8.01 update, to address several security flaws including some that could be exploited by phishers.