Looks like it's time to uninstall QuickTime on Windows

[bitcrusher]

Looks like they found two major zero day flaws on QT for windows and Apple no longer supports it so there will be no patches for it. Its probably something we all have on our systems so.....

[h=1]US government tells Windows users to uninstall QuickTime as Apple stops support[/h]
"The Department of Homeland Security has advised that PC owners uninstall Apple's QuickTime for Windows, after two vulnerabilities were discovered in its code. Because Apple is no longer updating the Windows version of the software, the DHS says "the only mitigation" is to remove the software entirely, or else risk "loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability of data, as well as damage to system resources or business assets."

 

[hojomo]

Looks like they found two major zero day flaws on QT for windows and Apple no longer supports it so there will be no patches for it. Its probably something we all have on our systems so.....

[h=1]US government tells Windows users to uninstall QuickTime as Apple stops support[/h]
"The Department of Homeland Security has advised that PC owners uninstall Apple's QuickTime for Windows, after two vulnerabilities were discovered in its code. Because Apple is no longer updating the Windows version of the software, the DHS says "the only mitigation" is to remove the software entirely, or else risk "loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability of data, as well as damage to system resources or business assets."

Unfortunate for After Effects users, you have to have Quicktime installed. In 2016. Still. Insane.

Perhaps the major forthcoming CC update might address that (?). I know that this update is a big rewrite of a lot of underlying code, and Adobe just might finally deal with this horrible legacy requirement.

Last point, Windows QuickTime updates is just another example of Apple's total disregard for the segment of their users that sustained them (professional users) before their ascendancy to ultra-mega-world-dominating corp status. You owe us!

 

[combatentropy]

Doesn't DaVinci Resolve require QuickTime on Windows?

 

[firehawk]

How does this affect those still using cs5 and cs6 on windows who are not upgrading to CC ?

 

[Nirv]

Last point, Windows QuickTime updates is just another example of Apple's total disregard for the segment of their users that sustained them (professional users) before their ascendancy to ultra-mega-world-dominating corp status. You owe us!

LOL, Windows users sustaining Apple? What a hoot.

Maybe Apple should give you your money back, oh.

Apple has moved away from QT and AV Foundation is the way forward, this has been no secret for several years.

 

[Thomas Smet]

LOL, Windows users sustaining Apple? What a hoot.

Maybe Apple should give you your money back, oh.

Apple has moved away from QT and AV Foundation is the way forward, this has been no secret for several years.

Its actually not that much of a hoot. There was a time when apple was not doing well financially and even Microsoft bought a bunch of shares of apple stock to help keep them going. The iPod and iPhone would not have been as much of a success if it was a product people could only use on a Mac computer. It was the common everyday Windows users who made up a good chunk of the sales for apple because those users could buy an Apple mobile device and sync them with their windows computers. So yes it was the windows users that helped sustain Apple and allow them to grow into the beast they are today.

 

[FrameFarmMedia]

Microsoft bought a bunch of shares of apple stock to help keep them going.

Microsoft didn't do this to keep apple going out of the goodness of their heart they were trying to avoid being broken up by the government as a monopoly. If Apple disappeared Microsoft would have been broken up like Bell.

 

[hojomo]

Nirv, I meant the professional users purchasing Macs in the mid-90s to early 2000s. The vast majority of those people were creatives. There would be no Apple around today without those folks, considering the financial situation they faced at that time. Someone had to pay to keep them from shutting their doors to then have Jobs kick off the OSX/ipod eras which breathed new life into Apple.

Just like you say, Apple has moved away from QT. And really their interest in professionals as a market, largely; from both a software and hardware point of view. Not bothering to patch a bit of legacy code they know only media professionals would be affected by I think underlies the point.

Apple can and should target whoever they want with their products. I switched to Windows for work when the price/performance became so laughable, and they abandoned competitive development of their creative software. A Hackintosh can get you the remaining bit of appeal vs. blowing money on over-priced, outdated hardware (talking workstations, Apple makes fantastic laptops and mobile devices)

 

[hojomo]

Microsoft didn't do this to keep apple going out of the goodness of their heart they were trying to avoid being broken up by the government as a monopoly. If Apple disappeared Microsoft would have been broken up like Bell.

That was a much bandied-about theory at the time. I think that was probably a component. Without an existing, large Office/productivity software user base in the mac community, I doubt Microsoft would have bothered.

 

[bitcrusher]

Here is a response from the Adobe Blog


QuickTime on Windows

Recently the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team issued Alert (TA16105-A), which recommends Windows users uninstall Apple QuickTime from their computers.
Adobe has worked extensively on removing dependencies on QuickTime in its professional video, audio and digital imaging applications and native decoding of many .mov formats is available today (including uncompressed, DV, IMX, MPEG2, XDCAM, h264, JPEG, DNxHD, DNxHR, ProRes, AVCI and Cineform). Native export support is also possible for DV and Cineform in .mov wrappers.

Unfortunately, there are some codecs which remain dependent on QuickTime being installed on Windows, most notably Apple ProRes. We know how common this format is in many worfklows, and we continue to work hard to improve this situation, but have no estimated timeframe for native decode currently.
Other commonly used QuickTime formats which would be affected by the uninstallation of QuickTime include Animation (import and export), DNxHD/HR (export) as would workflows where growing QuickTime files are being used (although we strongly advise using MXF for this wherever possible).
Adobe’s desire has always been to support everything natively without the need for QuickTime. As a result of the above we intend to increase our efforts to remove these incompatibilities, and provide our customers with a complete native pipeline. We will provide more information on this as we progress.

 

[Nirv]

Nirv, I meant the professional users purchasing Macs in the mid-90s to early 2000s. The vast majority of those people were creatives. There would be no Apple around today without those folks, considering the financial situation they faced at that time. Someone had to pay to keep them from shutting their doors to then have Jobs kick off the OSX/ipod eras which breathed new life into Apple.

Just like you say, Apple has moved away from QT. And really their interest in professionals as a market, largely; from both a software and hardware point of view. Not bothering to patch a bit of legacy code they know only media professionals would be affected by I think underlies the point.

Apple can and should target whoever they want with their products. I switched to Windows for work when the price/performance became so laughable, and they abandoned competitive development of their creative software. A Hackintosh can get you the remaining bit of appeal vs. blowing money on over-priced, outdated hardware (talking workstations, Apple makes fantastic laptops and mobile devices)

I was one of those creatives in the early 2000's I don't feel Apple owes me anything and I continue to use Apple Macs in production and couldn't disagree more that Apple has lost interest in the professional market. Have you not seen the 5k iMac? So good is it we've bought several of them for everyone for cutting 4k and they cut 4k like DV. I challenge you to find a Windows machine with 5k DCI-P3 wide gamut monitor and flash drives as fast as the iMac's for the same money.

Anyway, why is the Quicktime issue an Apple problem? From what I understand it's 32 bit on Windows and should have been sent into retirement years ago. Maybe the real beef should be with those companies that have continued to use QT and not moved to more modern frameworks sooner. I also understand there's incompatibilities with QT under Windows 10 and Apple probably decided there's too much effort to reward to bother updating a very dated framework. Newsflash: This is exactly what Apple does on the Mac platform. They've given plenty of warning that QT was a dead end and no one can be really surprised.

But how at risk is anyone from these security issues? You'd have to be viewing a malicious QT Movie you've downloaded from a dodgy source and already downloaded the hacker's code they want to execute on your machine. One can understand the nervous ninnies in the security services getting their nickers in a twist but the average user? I can't remember the last time I downloaded a QT from the internet let alone from a dodgy source so before any mass panic sets in, is anyone in a professional setting really at risk?

 

[bitcrusher]

Maybe the real beef should be with those companies that have continued to use QT and not moved to more modern frameworks sooner.

That is the right answer. Apple does not owe the PC world anything in 2016 if you want a prores workflow then get a mac. DNxHR works fine on all platforms.


"is anyone in a professional setting really at risk?"

Yes, your network can be compromised if your computer is on the net. They have not published how the attack works but its serious enghoff to have government agencies worried. QT was installed with every copy of iTunes a while back so the user base is huge. I have a feeling that apple will patch it as it will hurt their reputation in the long run but now it's time to look into another workflow.

 

[Nirv]

"is anyone in a professional setting really at risk?"

Yes, your network can be compromised if your computer is on the net. They have not published how the attack works

They have published how the attack works, you have to watch a malformed QT file which could cause arbitrary code execution i.e. it could run a piece of software that a hacker has duped you into installing. User interaction to initiate these vulnerabilities so don't download QTs from dodgy sources. There is no known proof of concept AFAIK only a theoretical vulnerability.

I'm sure ProRes will still be an option on PCs, it'll just mean those that want to offer that as a target have to pay a license fee to Apple. It will be overcome.

 

[KINOKS]

Doesn't DaVinci Resolve require QuickTime on Windows?

Yes. So does Avid.

 

[lovecameras]

No thanks. Will continue to use it.

 

[Benjobe]

Apple does not owe the PC world anything in 2016 if you want a prores workflow then get a mac. DNxHR works fine on all platforms.

I saw this in the Apple statement: "Other commonly used QuickTime formats which would be affected by the uninstallation of QuickTime include Animation (import and export), DNxHD/HR (export) as would workflows where growing QuickTime files are being used (although we strongly advise using MXF for this wherever possible)."

So are DNxHD and DNxHR an option for Windows users after uninstalling Quicktime? (I'm using Adobe CC 2015)

I recently switched from Mac to PC and the lack of ProRes has been one of the challenges. I still collaborate with other Mac users and we swap video files all the time. Now without Quicktime it's even more difficult.

I get a lot of ProRes files from Atomos Shoguns/Assassins and the like. These recorders can also record DNxHR and DNxHD.

I discovered Cineform to be a decent inter-platform editing codec with a .MOV wrapper. But it cannot hold an Alpha channel, so it won't work for lower third titles and such.

 

[Benjobe]

Here's a possible work-around for this problem.

http://www.learningvideo.com/my-quicktime-prores-on-windows-issue-solution/

Although judging by the attention to this thread it doesn't seem like it's a problem for most people here. Is everyone here using a Mac? Or not using Quicktime codecs on their Windows workstations?

It would be nice if someone could confirm that DNxHD and DNxHR still work within Adobe PP and AE after uninstalling Quicktime in Windows.

 

[Mike Harvey]

The problem with the "Don't use ProRes if you're on a PC" argument is that that isn't always practical. If someone knows of a reasonably priced recorder that uses AVC-Intra, I'm all ears. Otherwise, I'm pretty much stuck using ProRes or DNxHD with my Ninja. Pretty much every recorder I'm aware of that isn't raw or uncompressed is either ProRes or DNxHD.