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Hole in AOL's messaging program

February 2001

The internet giant America Online has promised a quick fix to a security hole in its popular instant messaging program that could allow hackers to take control of a victim's computer.

AOL Instant Messenger has over 100 million registered users, but only the Windows version of the software is at risk.

The flaw, called a "buffer overflow" problem, is similar to vulnerability recently found in Microsoft's Windows XP.

The hole lies in a feature that allows people to invite other Instant Messenger users in their buddy list to play online games such as Quake.

The vulnerability was discovered by the security research team, w00w00, a group founded by a 19-year-old American student.

In a statement, w00w00 said "the implications of this vulnerability are huge and leave the door wide open for a worm", a computer virus that can spread by itself, without human intervention.

"You could do just about anything - delete files on the computer or take over the machine," said Matt Conover, founder of w00w00.

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