Anilrgowda

Broadcom flaw could allow Wi-Fi hijacks
By Joris Evers
November 13, 2006, 4:21 PM PT

Computer code that could let an attacker hijack Windows PCs via a Wi-Fi connection was published on the Internet over the weekend. The code exploits a security vulnerability in a driver from chipmaker Broadcom.

The software is used to run wireless networking hardware in Microsoft Windows-based computers sold by Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Gateway, eMachines and others, according to advisories sent out by various security groups and companies. Potentially, millions of systems could be affected.

The vulnerability is caused by improper handling of wireless network service names, called service set identifiers, or SSIDs, according to a Symantec alert sent to DeepSight subscribers on Monday. An intruder could craft a long SSID that would trigger the vulnerability and give him complete control over the vulnerable machine, the security company said.

"This is the first of this class of vulnerability to have public exploit availability at the time that the remote kernel vulnerability was reported," Symantec said. People who own vulnerable PCs should disable the affected wireless devices until patches have been made available, it said.