Posted on 11/28/2001 1:28:10 PM PST by Don Joe
A vulnerability in the most widely used FTP server program for Linux has left numerous sites open to online attackers, a situation worsened when Red Hat mistakenly released information on the flaw early, leaving other Linux companies scrambling to get a fix out.
"Other vendors didn't have a patch," said Alfred Huger, vice president of engineering for network security information provider SecurityFocus. The company has been working with vendors to fix the vulnerability after computer security company Core Security Technologies alerted them to the problem Nov. 14.
"The fix is not rocket science," Huger said. "But we weren't working at a breakneck pace to get a patch out, because everyone was working together."
The software flaw affects all versions of wu-FTP, a program originally created at Washington University at St. Louis for servers running FTP (file transfer protocol) functions for transferring files over the Internet.
While the exact number of active FTP servers on the Internet is not known, the software is the most commonly installed file server and accompanies most major Linux distributions, including those from Red Hat, SuSE, Caldera International, Turbolinux, Connectiva, Cobalt Networks, MandrakeSoft and Wirex.
The problem, known in security circles as the wu-FTP Globbing Heap Corruption Vulnerability, allows attackers to get remote access to all files on a server, provided they can access the FTP service. Since most such servers provide anonymous access to anyone on the Internet, a great number will be vulnerable.
Huger called the flaw "serious."
The impact of the software vulnerability was exacerbated because many Linux software companies were caught flat-footed by a surprise early release of information regarding the vulnerability.
While the group that discovered the flaw, Core ST, informed Linux software companies and the open-source group that manages development for wu-FTP of the flaw, Red Hat mistakenly released a security advisory to its customers on Tuesday.
Normally, an advisory is a good thing, but other Linux software sellers had expected any advisories to be published Dec. 3, giving them time to work on fixes. Instead, the surprise announcement left the customers of other companies' products vulnerable.
"We were releasing some advisories on the same day, and an overzealous administrator pushed this out as well," said Mark Cox, senior engineering director for Red Hat. The company is adding new safeguards to its publishing system to avoid similar problems in the future, he said.
"We put a stop to this," Cox said. "This will not happen again. It was a bad mistake."
Um, Batchmo? Oh, BATCHmo...
As long as you're taking the time to rake me over the coals for being "*so*" ignorant in "*claiming* it's a Linux bug" (yow, "astounding", even !), could you spare just a little bit more effort and... how can I say this tactfully... could you bother to cite where I "claimed that this was a Linux bug"?
After you finish that (Kirk to computer: calculate Pi"), you can take the time to explain how this isn't a linux exploit.
Ideally, I'd like to see you explain it to the aforementioned Linux admins who are yanking its tentacles from their collective bungs as we speak.
Something that can compete with high-end IBM S390 mainframes in a corporate/government environment. I'm picturing a Sun Fire 15k (>US$4,000,000)with 106 UltraSPARC III processors.
If you worked as a network admin for a company that had one of those, and proposed the bright idea of loading Linux on it, the IS&T chief would probably fire you on the spot.
Any computer that a man can pick up alone and move from one side of the lab to the other is but a toy.
Before you mention that IBM is also embracing 'Tux' the Penguin, you might also want to notice that the IBM AS/400 midrange does most jobs lots better, stabler, and cheaper than a similarly-configured Linux system.
I wouldn't hire an admin that would install RedHat. I also have a 30 page checklist for checking on possible security holes. An observant admin can block most problems. This is not a linux problem. It is an admin problem, just like the idiot admins that don't apply the IIS patches. It must give the microsofties a real thrill to see an opensource bug finally hit the news. Of course, Microsoft hits the news on a regular basis with it's very damaging problems. GRIN!
/john
I admit it.
I was mistaken.
I thought you had at least some technical competency. This thread proves me wrong.
Ah, well.
Ya'll have fun. If you can't even understand this simple issue, then there's no real point discussing any technical topics with you at all, is there?
Ciao, for now. I'm sure you won't miss me!
"No, ya'll don't!"
It's Peewee Harrman!
Hey, Peewee -- "I know you are but what am I" is like *so*...
No, I'm not gonna go there. Wouldn't be prudent.
Microsoft included a piece of third-party software on their OS installation disk that is nasty and buggy and full of every kind of problem, but these AOHell problems cannot be blamed on Microsoft. Nor can this WU-ftp thing be blamed on Red Hat, beyond stating that they included a buggy, nasty piece of third-party software on their install disk.
For the record, I use 100% Microsoft top to bottom, with the single exception of INTUIT tax software in the wintertime.
But seriously, that's why they've GPL'd XFS, and have done a lot of work on the Linux fs layer. They plan to sell CXFS (Clustering XFS) to those who need it.
Ha! This is a riot.
I figured you would be filled with glee.
My FTP server started getting hit Sunday from APNIC subnets. RedHat sent me an advisory Tuesday. That's enough time to recognise the problem, analyze the exploit and come up with a fix. And RH doesn't even own this piece of code.
This is really a minor blip as things go. Stuff Happens -- the Linux community knows this... we monitor CERT Bugtraq and RHN for a reason... the only people who got bitten by this were the ones with weak (or no) firewalls and/or no clue. Leave yourself open to the world and you deserve what you get.
Man, you're really on tonight!
BUT I applaud and support the UNISES in their BALANCING act to the manaical MS juggernaut... and keep one or two of them running here as often as possible. YOU have mail.
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