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Vulnerabilities in FreeBSD

flynn_nrg writes: "O'Reilly has an interesting article about vulnerabilities in common programs found on most FreeBSD boxes. From the article: "Welcome to Security Alerts, an overview of recent Unix and open source security advisories. In this column, we look at buffer overflows in OpenSSH, Squid, Listar/Ecartis, slrnpull, and IRIX's syslogd; problems in Sudo, MHonArc, and Mosix; and a local root hole and denial-of-service attack vulnerability in FreeBSD.""

63 comments

  1. Re:A real treatment of why this is true. by PD · · Score: 2

    Hmmm. Let me consider that again. Yup. I am quite sure that it WAS a troll. Besides the overused of the bold tag, the author used the word Berzerkeley. Definitely a troll.

    In any case, a few security bugs can't kill an OS. Windows would be dead a hundred times if that were true.

  2. FreeBSD vulnerabilities? by rsidd · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The article covered two vulnerabilities specific to FreeBSD, a few in third party programs which apply to all platforms (the article itself makes no reference to FreeBSD), and some vulnerabilities (mosix, IRIX syslogd) which are specific to other platforms (Linux and IRIX respectively) and have nothing whatever to do with FreeBSD
    So how does that make it an article on FreeBSD vulnerabilities?

    1. Re:FreeBSD vulnerabilities? by JoeWalsh · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm thinking the "BSD Is Dying" trolls bribed the /. editors to put this up.

    2. Re:FreeBSD vulnerabilities? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > So how does that make it an article on FreeBSD vulnerabilities?

      Simple.

      1. Take a bunch of vulnerable applications.
      2. Compile them on FreeBSD.
      3. Profit.

    3. Re:FreeBSD vulnerabilities? by rakjr · · Score: 3, Informative

      The title is 100% FUD. It might as well have been titled "All nixes full of security holes. MS to make $$$. It is not the kind of thing I expect out of O'Rielly. I am also surprised it was posted here on /. The article is out of date relative to the fixes. It would be one thing if after all this time, there were still no fixes. I think the article should be pulled from /. it is of no value. Anyone who manages a system should have fixes the mentioned problems long ago. It was just a catchy title with no thought or substance.

      --
      In a place beyond time and space, in a land far better than this, look for me there...
    4. Re:FreeBSD vulnerabilities? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought the "BSD Is Dying" trolls WERE the editors?

    5. Re:FreeBSD vulnerabilities? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong!

      This is the correct version of your process:

      1. Take a bunch of vulnerable applications.
      2. Compile them on FreeBSD.
      3. ???
      4. Profit.

  3. please ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    what timothy forgot to mention is that the freebsd group had already released patches before posting this article. i guess he could have actually gone out and checked, but alas, this is /. ... home of editors that don't give a shit

    go on, mod me down

  4. grain of salt ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    look at the other articles he has written

    http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/103

    telling us shit we already knew about 2 weeks before he wrote about it

    FUD: 1
    True: 0

  5. Re:A real treatment of why this is true. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    good for you. please stop using the bsds. that means more bandwidth for me when i go to do installs (speaking of which, you are a complete ass if you think they are confusing).

    oh, and don't let the door hit you on your ass on the way out.

  6. Re:A real treatment of why this is true. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Never said I couldn't install it.

    I never said I couldn't use them either, I use OpenBSD.

    If you think *BSD has a solid future, get off the crack, whore. Need more bandwidth during installs? There is already unlimited bandwidth. You are the bottleneck. No one can use this shit and for no good reason. GNU has so much traction. I would give HURD a better shot at making big gains that *BSD. When I think of a BSD kernel, I first think, archaic, then I think, WHY?

    You are a sexless complete ass, and fuck your little snarky door hitting the ass on the way out. I'll fucking kick your fucking ass, you little nerdy shit. I'd love to meet you when you aren't fucking sitting there behind your little keyboard behind your ancient CRT (no way you have a flat panel, snark Shitheads like you cant afford them.) and see how much of a wise ass you really are in real fucking life. I'll bet you are a skinny, smelly fucking loser.

    Get bent, you sexless fuckstick.

  7. Lame Article by smnolde · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Gee, just two FreeBSD vulnerabilities in that article.... I run several FreeBSD workstations and servers and neither of them would be affected because it's easy to workaround those problems and equally simple to track -STABLE.

    Ever get into rpm hell on a redhat box? Debian might be a little better, but still, Debian is barely more than a kernel from being FreeBSD. FreeBSD is infinitely simpler to tailor to your needs and manage than any other *nix system I've tried.

    This article doesn't discourage me a bit, since fixes for the mentioned vulnerabilities were available so soon after the announcements. I absolutely love FreeBSD for all me needs and encourage other to install and learn it.

    1. Re:Lame Article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Its kind of sad that so few people seem to
      understand the open source community. The bugs
      are old. They are not BSD specific(except 2).
      Anybody running BSD probably knows his or her
      stuff and checks security problems on a regular
      basis.
      Sounds like the writer needed some lunch money.
      O'Reilly must be really hard up.
      Unlike Microsoft the open source community embraces
      its faults and posts every single bug and security
      threat as soon as ANYONE finds a problem. The
      reason a big deal is made about problems on microsoft
      software is that the doors are closed and until
      you pay your little fee, or the problem is a threat
      to microsofts monopoly NOONE knows there
      was a problem except the blackHATS.
      Running OpenBSD here.

    2. Re:Lame Article by Abnormal+Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      I was wondering what you mean by "Debian is barely more than a kernel".

      Don't know if your refering to the same debian that I know. The debian I know is project (ran by volulteers) to develiver a very high qaulity Operating System accoss a number of diffrent platforms. Presently the main flavour of debian 'GNU/Linux', but theres others in the work.

      Debian is pretty damn easy to configure to your needs, and doesn't do nasty things (can I say Yast from SuSE) like overwriting config files you have edited directly.

      Agreed the article pretty much covers all *nix's, and from what I can see most, if not all of the vulnerabilities have been fixed allready ...

    3. Re:Lame Article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Should this be modded down as a troll, it was only correcting the orginal statment of debian is barely more than a kernel which is incorrect.

    4. Re:Lame Article by smnolde · · Score: 2, Informative

      Perhaps I made myself unclear by leaving a word out. My original statement should have read to the effecct that "debian is little more than a kernel away from being FreeBSD...".

      I was trying to complement the debian project since I've heard so many good things about it's automation and package management. At the same time, I believe it's the FreeBSD of the GNU/Linux world.

      I still like FreeBSD and will desperately avoid having to administer a RedHat box again.

    5. Re:Lame Article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

      Then how come I know of people who are ditching freebsd for linux because of the lack of easy patching? The BSD license is one of the reasons Microsoft is were it is today and I won't run any OS that helps M$.

    6. Re:Lame Article by ealar+dlanvuli · · Score: 1

      haha wtf, how did this get modded up.

      FreeBSD ports/package isn't even in competition with linux anything. It's about 500 years ahead of the game.

      frends don't let friends mod trolls up.

      --
      I live in a giant bucket.
  8. wow... by tcc · · Score: 4, Interesting

    only 2?

    Heck, I'm waiting for my Service pack 3 for win2k to apply the 14 pages of hotfix and security patch automatically to my newer systems without having to reload the windowsupdate/rebooting 3 times (explorer 5.5sp2, reboot, security roolup jan 2002, reboot and finally the critical, and that doesn't include post-sp2 hotfixes that aren't "critical").

    No wonder I am considering FreeBSD for my email server, yeah it'll need maintenance and security, yes I hate the overhead and everything is so much simpler in windows, that I have to give it to microsoft, but GOD, I don't want to reboot a zillion time after applying patches every week, heck, I don't want to apply patches every week :).

    --
    --- Metamoderating abusive downgraders since my 300th post.
    1. Re:wow... by Arandir · · Score: 1

      Overhead? What overhead? Or where you referring to the overhead of running an email server under Windows.

      --
      A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
    2. Re:wow... by DrSkwid · · Score: 2

      overhead?

      nah mate, I never even touch mine

      uptime :
      7:03AM up 36 days, 16:49, 5 users

      --
      There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
    3. Re:wow... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I may be badly in need of an update, but this is an internal-use box.

      FreeBSD 4.0-20000717-STABLE (___ROUTER) #0: Tue Jul 18 17:46:16 CDT 2000

      $ uptime
      2:37AM up 642 days, 7:40, 3 users, load averages: 1.00, 1.00, 1.00

    4. Re:wow... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Err.. piece of advice: the MS IE SP2 (for applicable all OS's, inc 5.5, 5.0 (98/2000/NT) has .. interesting.. flaws, especially if you're using SSL.

      Along the lines of: When your login works for IE (5.0,5.5; no SP - all OSs), IE SP1 (5.0, 5.5; all OSs), IE 6 and NOT IE SP2 (on any OS or version (SP2 being the problem), you take it as a subtle hint that the SP2 isn't just a 'fix'... like most M$ Service packs: It fixes a lot of things.. and breaks others.

  9. Re:Oh, come on. Please? I Promise I won't do it ag by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    BSD is dead. Long live BSD.

    What a loser.

  10. *BSD is living by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    It is official; Netcraft confirms: *BSD is living!

    Another piece of great news hit the already prosperous *BSD community when IDC confirmed that *BSD market share has risen yet again, now up to more than of 18 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has gained more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is growing in complete unity, as fittingly exemplified by coming dead first in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.

    You don't need to be a Kreskin [amdest.com] to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a superb future. In fact there will be a wonderful future for *BSD because *BSD is living. Things are looking very good for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to gain market share. Black ink flows like a river of cash. FreeBSD is the most successful of them all, having acquired 93% more core developers.

    Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.

    OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 70000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 2 to 1. Therefore there are about 70000/2 = 35000 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 15000 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (70000+35000+7000)*4 = 448000 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.

    Due to the success of Walnut Creek, excellent sales and so on, FreeBSD became a viable business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another popular OS. Now BSDI is also growing, its success acquired by yet another software house.

    All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily increased in market share. *BSD is very strong and its long term survival prospects are very good. If *BSD is to keep growing it will be among those who appreciate solid, fast and well-engineered OSes. *BSD continues to succeed. Nothing short of a miracle could kill it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is here for good.

    Fact: *BSD is living

    1. Re:*BSD is living by redhatbox · · Score: 1


      Dear God, this is the funniest thing I've ever read in my entire life, so help me Theo.

      Although I post this from a Linux box, I had to take a moment to gaze fondly upon my OpenBSD server in the corner :).

      I'm only torn on whether this should be "+5 Funny" or "+5 Insightful". Truly a prime example of geek wit at its finest, in any event...

  11. Oh dear, my FreeBSD box is insecure... by Thornae · · Score: 4, Informative
    Better fix that:


    #cvsup /etc/cvsupfile
    #cd /usr/src
    #make buildworld
    #make installworld

    There. I feel much safer now.

    --
    |>
    Here be Dragons
    1. Re:Oh dear, my FreeBSD box is insecure... by OpperNerd · · Score: 3, Informative

      should be

      #cvsup /etc/cvsupfile
      #cd /usr/src
      #make buildworld
      #make buildkernel && make installkernel
      #mergemaster
      #make installworld

      --
      -- unix is for people without a social life - Patrick van Eijk
    2. Re:Oh dear, my FreeBSD box is insecure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What, you don't merge by hand? (=

      No, you got me, I forgot about mergemaster. Still, considering that I'm something of a neophyte wrt FreeBSD, you've gotta love that upgrading is that easy that I can almost get it right from memory...

      And for the ac telling me I really should use sudo, I know, but I'm slack, and I'm going to eventually get around to learning op instead.

  12. Almost forgot... by Thornae · · Score: 2
    Nearly missed one of the other vulns on the list.

    #portupgrade sudo

    Now I'm done.

    (Not that I use sudo, but it's there for completeness)
    --
    |>
    Here be Dragons
    1. Re:Almost forgot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Not that I use sudo...

      You really should.

    2. Re:Almost forgot... by ChocoboKnight · · Score: 3, Informative

      Everybody should try "man jail". A chroot on steroids, go on, try it. You won't be disappointed.

  13. Linux has becoming more and more unstable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I used to be a big Linux advocate, unfortunately it seems that Linux has been becoming more and more unstable. The hundreds of different distributions of Linux all have their pros and cons, but there is no centralised package or ports system. Want a package for Linux ? Ok, cool - DEB, RPM? RPM? That's the most popular. But don't try using a Mandrake RPM or a SuSE RPM on RedHat.
    Linux has given up its usefulness for graphical installers and Windowesque gimmicks. The code bloat is unbelievable. Unless you roll out your own distribution or use a minimalist distribution like Slackware, the default installs for RedHat, Mandrake, etc are huge, Windows-like monstrosities.

    So what?, I hear you say. Linux is stable and secure. Wrong again. The Lion worm proved that Linux is not as secure as one might believe. The fact that VMs get changed in the middle of a stable release branch (2.4.x) shows bad organization.

    It took Linux years to overcome its awful filesystem problems, and now journalling filesystems are available. But speedwise, compared to the FreeBSD FFS, they are slow and cumbersome, and have yet to prove as reliable. FFS Softlinks are a few generations ahead of any journalling filesystem on the market.

    FreeBSD is far better organized, the ports and packages collections are better synced and more reliable, the system is more stable and easier to understand. The firewall included with FreeBSD has been proven and has a far better track record than ipchains or iptables, the latter having security problems in its first week or release, the former having no stately inspection and being a complete mess due to its shell-script bound layout.

    But Linux has more software than FreeBSD!, scream the Linux die-hards. What they fail to realize is that 99% of Linux software runs under FreeBSD. I haven't encountered a Linux program that didn't run under FreeBSD. Sure, I've heard reports by trolls that certain software doesn't work, but all the software I've tried works, in fact, even faster than the native Linux versions in most cases. To the VMWare troll: Yes, VMWare does work under FreeBSD.

    FreeBSD vs Linux is a debate that won't ever be settled, but people who have used both generally prefer FreeBSD for mission-critical tasks. Those who claim that FreeBSD performs worse than Linux either haven't used FreeBSD or are trolls.

    I won't say that FreeBSD is the best Unix variant on the market, but the best open source Unix variant? Yes. Solaris is still tops, but in terms of Free (Open Source) systems, FreeBSD is probably the best all-rounder. NetBSD, OpenBSD and Linux all have their respective places, but overall, FreeBSD will probably take over most of the open source server market, at least in organizations with serious management.

    1. Re:Linux has becoming more and more unstable by boltar · · Score: 1

      FreeBSD may have a faster filesystem but it has MUCH slower graphics than linux even when running
      Xfree 4. I have no idea why but on my dual boot machine the X server on 4.5 runs at about 50% the
      speed of the same server on linux.

    2. Re:Linux has becoming more and more unstable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      solaris???
      come on bro
      you mean slowaris
      we all know solaris is dieing right now
      solaris has lost a lot of market
      plus java is slowing down too

    3. Re:Linux has becoming more and more unstable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're an idiot. "Much slower graphics"? Uhh. Take a look at your hardware, not your OS. Lamer.

      You probably base this on your GeForce 4 128 card in the linux box and a 256k EISA card in the FreeBSD box.

    4. Re:Linux has becoming more and more unstable by cyr · · Score: 1

      He did say "dual boot", which kind of implies he was talking about the same box...

    5. Re:Linux has becoming more and more unstable by cyr · · Score: 1

      In the Linux world it is up to the distribution makers to deliver a stable system that suits your needs. The development of the kernel and various software takes place a high speed and often in several directions at the same time. I believe that diversity and choice are good things, but you should rely on the cutting edge stuff for mission critical tasks.

    6. Re:Linux has becoming more and more unstable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "but you should rely on the cutting edge stuff for mission critical tasks. "

      Surely you meant "shouldn't rely on the cutting edge stuff for mission critical tasks"...

      Maybe it's just me, but a kernel being developed in "several directions at the same time" doesn't sound too appealing.

    7. Re:Linux has becoming more and more unstable by boltar · · Score: 1

      Read what I wrote you clueless fuckwit. They're on the same machine! Dual boot, hello??? Moron.

    8. Re:Linux has becoming more and more unstable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      odd, I seem to have never noticed this.

      are you using the exact same options at compile time?

      Oh whats that, you couldn't compile it on linux cause you were missing about 501 libraries that you would have had to hunt down? isn't that too bad...

    9. Re:Linux has becoming more and more unstable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess what pple are conveying here is partly
      right,Linux is bcoming more and more unstable,

      Reasons may be as under
      - Too many distributions
      - Except the kernel (being common),the other visual gimmicks are making Linux un-controllable
      - Far too many package formats like DEB,RPM etc
      - Far too many window managers like kde,gnome etc

      How to make Linux more stable,reliable and fast
      - Have a common linux consortium like,UNIX98 for *IXs and alike
      - Since RH,Mandrake etal companies are in money-making business,one can't have control over no of distributions, try to somehow go for a consortium so that there are fewer but solid distributions. Like merge RH/Mandrake/Debian etcetc.(Which is unlikely :0 )
      - Last but not the least,go for a common package format taking the best of better distribution package formats.

    10. Re:Linux has becoming more and more unstable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have a close friend that has run Linux and actually learned most of his UNIX type knowledge on FreeBSD and had used FreeBSD long before he had ever used Linux -- he has installed FreeBSD on 3 different machines of mine -- on every one Linux has actually turned out to be faster than FreeBSD...Some of this has been known issues with SMP and such -- but there was still significant slowdowns on single processor boxes. Most of this turned out to be hardware issues -- If FreeBSD
      hardware support ever catches up to linux I might
      try again...but right now it is easier to install
      a bloated RedHat or Mandrake and then systematically strip the junk... rpm -e --nodeps does work -- compiling your own stuff with just a
      redhat base install works better...

    11. Re:Linux has becoming more and more unstable by Shanep · · Score: 2

      The average user of FreeBSD does'nt really care about GUI speed.

      My smb/afp/lpd/web proxy server runs FreeBSD. Suffice to say, it does not even have a video card, mouse or even keyboard for that matter.

      However, does your video card require AGP extensions to opperate at full speed in XF86?

      --
      War crimes, torture, lies, illegal spying... Would someone give Bush a blowjob, already, so he can be impeached?
  14. Linux has become more and more unstable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
    I used to be a big Linux advocate, unfortunately it seems that Linux has been becoming more and more unstable. The hundreds of different distributions of Linux all have their pros and cons, but there is no centralised package or ports system. Want a package for Linux ? Ok, cool - DEB, RPM? RPM? That's the most popular. But don't try using a Mandrake RPM or a SuSE RPM on RedHat. Linux has given up its usefulness for graphical installers and Windowesque gimmicks. The code bloat is unbelievable. Unless you roll out your own distribution or use a minimalist distribution like Slackware, the default installs for RedHat, Mandrake, etc are huge, Windows-like monstrosities.

    So what?, I hear you say. Linux is stable and secure. Wrong again. The Lion worm proved that Linux is not as secure as one might believe. The fact that VMs get changed in the middle of a stable release branch (2.4.x) shows bad organization.

    It took Linux years to overcome its awful filesystem problems, and now journalling filesystems are available. But speedwise, compared to the FreeBSD FFS, they are slow and cumbersome, and have yet to prove as reliable. FFS Softlinks are a few generations ahead of any journalling filesystem on the market.

    FreeBSD is far better organized, the ports and packages collections are better synced and more reliable, the system is more stable and easier to understand. The firewall included with FreeBSD has been proven and has a far better track record than ipchains or iptables, the latter having security problems in its first week or release, the former having no stately inspection and being a complete mess due to its shell-script bound layout.

    But Linux has more software than FreeBSD!, scream the Linux die-hards. What they fail to realize is that 99% of Linux software runs under FreeBSD. I haven't encountered a Linux program that didn't run under FreeBSD. Sure, I've heard reports by trolls that certain software doesn't work, but all the software I've tried works, in fact, even faster than the native Linux versions in most cases. To the VMWare troll: Yes, VMWare does work under FreeBSD.

    FreeBSD vs Linux is a debate that won't ever be settled, but people who have used both generally prefer FreeBSD for mission-critical tasks. Those who claim that FreeBSD performs worse than Linux either haven't used FreeBSD or are trolls.

    I won't say that FreeBSD is the best Unix variant on the market, but the best open source Unix variant? Yes. Solaris is still tops, but in terms of Free (Open Source) systems, FreeBSD is probably the best all-rounder. NetBSD, OpenBSD and Linux all have their respective places, but overall, FreeBSD will probably take over most of the open source server market, at least in organizations with serious management.

  15. OT: Hotmail FreeBSD migration by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default. asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/case/ hotmail/default.asp

    Has the conversion from freeBSD to w2k been successful?
    Microsoft seems to think so.

  16. haiku by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    helicopter crash
    dead flesh stinking charred flesh
    freebsd death

  17. I have seen the light www.gentoo.org by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    www.gentoo.org

  18. especially Timothy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who constantly posts bullshit/FUD

  19. IRIX patch released 18 months ago by rasper99 · · Score: 1

    The patch to fix the IRIX problem was included in the standard IRIX maintenance patches that were released 18 months ago. I would hope if someone had a system on the internet they would patch it more often than every 18 months.