In disputing the COMRaider unsafe method vulnerability, iDefense Labs said: >In short, if your machine allows this control to be loaded, then your >browser will load controls regardless of safety designations such as >"Safe for Scripting", "Safe for Initialization", and "IObjectSaftey". Note that a Google search for phrases like "Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe for scripting" with "Enable" will return an unsettling number of documents from vendors that tell their customers to change their browsers to these unsafe settings, in order to get their own products to work. Given that such a setting could affect ALL controls - not just the ones from the original vendor who needed it - I think this needs to be factored into any software developer's threat model. It would be very informative for someone somewhere to do a study to see how many browsers are running with such unsafe settings. I wouldn't be surprised if it's 10% or more. - Steve
