Malicious Bundles on Mac OS X

[Braden Thomas <braden127@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I wrote some information about Malicious Bundles on Mac OS X and  
posted source code that you can find here:

http://braden.machacking.net/bundle.html


The InputManagers directory on OS X gives the user the ability to  
load any bundle into any application.  The Obj-C runtime environment  
gives code the ability to dynamically change the mapping of any  
function at runtime.  The combination of these two allows a bundle to  
modify the behavior of any application launched by a user.  This fact  
is nothing new -- people have been discussing this for a while, and  
other people have been using this functionality to write neat  
software that modifies other software.

Attachment: viruspackage
Description: application/applefile

On the page, I have some proof-of-concept code that demonstrates the  
danger of the InputManagers directory: a malicious bundle called  
mailHack that automatically adds itself (or any file) to every email  
sent using Mail.app; a malicious bundle called iChatHack that  
automatically sends itself (or any file) to every online user using  
iChat.app.
I briefly discuss malicious bundles as a vector for spyware and viruses.


Braden