Yahoo Messenger exploit enables status message hijacking

A newly discovered zero-day exploit against Yahoo Messenger can allow an attacker to hijack users' status updates, according to researchers at anti-virus firm BitDefender. The exploit, which affects version 11.x of the Messenger client, including the latest iteration, allows remote hackers to silently change the status update of nearly any Yahoo Messenger user running a vulnerable version. The altered status updates may contain links pointing to malicious sites or affiliate marketing scams. Users can, however, prevent their status from being changed, even if they use a vulnerable version, by changing their settings to “ignore anyone who is not in your Yahoo! Contacts,” which is off by default. BitDefender researchers have provided Yahoo with information about the flaw, as well as proof-of-concept code.