Ask.com Internet Explorer toolbar might have a security vulnerability

Ask.com is already struggling to compete against the dominating web search players in the market.

This latest news is not going to impress their limited user base. Security experts have stated that the company’s browser toolbar for Internet Explorer might have a flaw which could enable attacker to take control of a person’s computer.

This security flaw is related to a buffer overflow flaw in the toolbar and involves an ActiveX control. It has been posted by security vendor Secunia APS. They have labeled this problem as highly critical.

The original person credited with finding this flaw is said to be Joey Mengele. Ask.com is yet to release a statement on this report in the media.

More details: Ask Toolbar ToolbarSettings ActiveX Control Buffer Overflow

Update:

“Ask.com takes security very seriously. We were notified of a buffer overflow issue in the Ask.com IE toolbar, and worked aggressively to resolve it. On Wednesday, we released the fix, and all Ask.com toolbar users were automatically notified of the update. In addition, we posted information online via our IE toolbar FAQ site that informed Ask.com toolbar users of the issue and the resolution. Again, no exploits were known to have occurred.”

- Nicholas Graham, Vice President and Spokesperson, Ask.com

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