Uninstall QuickTime for Windows today, agency warns

Trend Micro is recommending everyone should follow Apple’s guidance and uninstall QuickTime for Windows as security updates will no longer be issued for the product on the Windows platform.

The security company said its Zero Day Initiative has just released two advisories, ZDI-16-241 and ZDI-16-242, detailing two new, critical vulnerabilities affecting QuickTime for Windows. And, according to Christopher Budd, global threat communications manager at Trend Micro, because Apple is no longer providing security updates for QuickTime on Windows, these vulnerabilities are never going to be patched.

“QuickTime for Windows now joins Microsoft Windows XP and Oracle Java 6 as software that is no longer being updated to fix vulnerabilities and is therefore subject to ever-increasing risk as more and more unpatched vulnerabilities are found affecting it,” said Budd.

Budd said these are remote code execution vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to gain control of the victim’s system. In an enterprise setting, this could mean opening the door for hackers to access larger, company-wide networks.

He added that while Trend Micro is currently not aware of any active attacks against these vulnerabilities, but the only way to protect your Windows systems from potential attacks against these or other vulnerabilities in Apple QuickTime is to uninstall it now.

“Ultimately, the right answer is to follow Apple’s guidance and uninstall QuickTime for Windows,” said Budd.

It is important to note that this warning does not apply to QuickTime on Mac OSX.

To find information on how to uninstall Apple QuickTime for Windows, go to https://support.apple.com/HT205771.

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