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Thread: How does an MP3 contain a Virus???

  1. #41
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    Default Re:How does an MP3 contain a Virus???

    Yes I can, but I will not. Not here. Not ever. You'd have to be remarkably dumb to even conceive of asking. So don't ask.

  2. #42
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    Default Re:How does an MP3 contain a Virus???

    Xeno i thought you were alot smarter than that. I dont want to do anything with this information that is malicious and as such I wish you would stop hinding behind that mask of "Oh I use to do it but I dont anymore".

    Please remember that Information is not wrong but it depends on how we use it.

  3. #43
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    Default Re:How does an MP3 contain a Virus???

    Funny enough I was going to lock thr thread after my post but I was thinking that wouldn't be fair. But some good and interesting points brought out none the less.

  4. #44
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    Default Re:How does an MP3 contain a Virus???

    I have been following this thread and I must say, ..... the human mind has no limits.
    Is it possible to wrap a virus in a mp3 file? Yes.
    Is it possible to execute this virus? Very unlikely.

    The code for a virus can be written into any binary file, which includes .jpg, .tiff, .mp3.
    Doing so would be a waste of time, since the above mentioned file types are never executed bu treated as streams of data to be read. This means whatever program, be it winamp or xmms, reads this file, will just treat the virus code as data. It will not be exceuted.
    The more likely result of wrapping a virus in a mp3 file is : Corrupted mp3 file, cannot be played". Crash. The virus code that was embedded in the Id3 tag section is now as dangerous as a plain text file.


  5. #45
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    Default Re:How does an MP3 contain a Virus???

    I was getting at that same point too. Each file contains header information. Thats why even though you may rename a BMP file to JPG any program that can only open BMP's will not open that file. If you insert code into an mp3 before the header information it will not be read and the same goes if you insert it afterward. If you do it in the mp3 itself then you will corrupt the frames that the mpeg layer uses and cause a glitch or cause it to stop, but nothing is sent to the OS to be executed. if the code is placed in the section for the ID3 tag then it would just be made visible but not executed.


  6. #46
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    Default Re:How does an MP3 contain a Virus???

    I did some research just now and this is what I have come up with:
    An entire executable file can be imbedded in the ID3V2 tag portion of the MP3 file. Thus a very nasty virus could be there too.
    The good thing though is that players do not execute the imbedded binary. The player merely displays the imbedded binary file as a graphic image.
    There has been some talk in the MP3 public forums, about making players execute imbedded files, but the idea seems to have been dropped after it was pointed out just how dangerous that could be to the MP3 community.

  7. #47
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    Default Re:How does an MP3 contain a Virus???

    Interesting stuff, learning alot from this thread this is the type of discussion i like around this place. Only hope that Xeno don't back down from this discussion unless he is conceding that he was wrong?

    oh btw i don't see anything wrong with things getting heated wi a all big man yah, right?

  8. #48
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    Default Re:How does an MP3 contain a Virus???

    Here here

  9. #49
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    Default Re:How does an MP3 contain a Virus???

    In defense of Xeno's stance and to provide a bit of balance to the debate, read the following articles:

    http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...,795207,00.asp

    http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tre...n/MS02-072.asp

    As I said before it is possible using buffer overruns but they can be patched.

  10. #50
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    Default Re:How does an MP3 contain a Virus???

    [quote author=Edge link=board=5;threadid=1247;start=45#msg12282 date=1058534314]
    In defense of Xeno's stance and to provide a bit of balance to the debate, read the following articles:

    http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...,795207,00.asp

    http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tre...n/MS02-072.asp

    As I said before it is possible using buffer overruns but they can be patched.
    [/quote]

    Thanx for the links, really informative.
    It's a good thing that this does not apply to every OS, not even every M$ OS. It seems that due to sloppy coding (yawn!.... as usual) an attacker is able to use the windows shell, not media player, to execute arbitrary code placed inside of the id3 tag of an mp3.
    This, we said earlier, was not impossible to do. Thankfully though, they saw the problem before it was too late.

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