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Remotely Crash OpenBSD

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the even-the-best-of-us dept.

*no comment* writes "If you are running OpenBSD on your IPv6 install, it might be time to upgrade to -current. (just kidding) There is, however, a way to crash OpenBSD 3.4 with a couple of simple IPv6 commands. Georgi Guninski, found the problem. To quote Theo, 'it is just a crash.'" It is unknown if the bug could be used to execute arbitrary code, but it does require patching a Linux kernel (or rolling your own network stack) to exploit.

7 of 407 comments (clear)

  1. Double standards? by Threni · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm thinking that if someone from Microsoft stated "It's just a crash" the editors here would be just a touch more sarcastic...

  2. Re:Does this count? by inertia187 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't think the IPv6 install is the default. Even if it is, 'it's just a crash' not a remote hole. So, yes they can still boast.

    --
    A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
  3. It's called selective quoting by Flower · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Without seeing Theo's complete statement you can't tell if the statement is dismissive (something I find difficult to believe) or if it is qualifying - i.e. the exploit only produces a crash.

    Fwiw, I wouldn't go into riot mode over four monosyllable words taken out of context be it from MS or OBSD. Of course, this is /. and that nice little blurb will most certainly cause a lot of banner hits as people will just have to comment. I can personally attest to 3 to get this post up.

    --
    I don't want knowledge. I want certainty. - Law, David Bowie
  4. Re:Maybe time to drop this "securitier than thou" by ScottSpeaks! · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd find the OpenBSD crew's haughty "more secure than thou" attitude a lot more annoying if it weren't for the fact that their track record actually justifies it. The fact that you can still count the number of remote exploits using a two-bit register is pretty impressive.

  5. Track record by AvantLegion · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I'm thinking that if someone from Microsoft stated "It's just a crash" the editors here would be just a touch more sarcastic...

    The day Microsoft has half the kind of security track record as OpenBSD, they'll be cut some slack.

    OpenBSD had earned a little slack. MS still has a long way to go in system security/stability before they deserve the same treatment.

  6. Re:Oh wow by Nimrangul · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What crackpipe have you been using? It must greatly enhance the smoking experience. The funding was not pulled "pulled moments before it was to be paid," the funds were already greatly used. There was about three months left before the funding from POSSE was ended. Theo does not seem like an ass to me, he does instead seem like someone that dismisses stupid shit that random people say because he has better things to do.

    --
    I'm sick of following my dreams - I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later.
  7. Why does "remote hole" == elevation of privilege? by xswl0931 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A "remote hole" doesn't have to just be obtaining root access. Being able to remotely crash a server is almost as bad. So no, they cannot boast.