Trillian critical security update released

Attackers could exploit vulnerabilities in the character encoding for Trillian 3.1.5.1--specifically, the word-wrapping handling of UTF-8, the Unicode Transformation Format used for encoding characters in e-mail, instant messages and Web pages, iDefense Labs warned in its security advisory. The vulnerabilities potentially could affect earlier versions of the Trillian software as well, iDefense said.

Trillian, which supports Yahoo's Instant Messenger, AOL's AIM, MSN Messenger, and Internet-relay chat and ICQ ("I seek you") instant-messaging protocols, could be exploited if users view a malicious message containing an unusually long UTF-8 string. Attackers could then potentially launch a buffer overflow and remotely gain control of a user's system, according to Secunia, which rates the security flaws as "highly critical."

Cerulean Studios has released an update, version 3.1.6.0, to Trillian. iDefense noted that while it identified the MSN protocol as a potential attack vector for the vulnerabilities, other supported protocols may be vulnerable.