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AOL IM 'Away' Message Security Hole Found

thedude13 writes " Infoworld is running a story about a major security hole in AOL ® Instant Messenger(TM) and how it handles away messages. AIM is vulnerable to a buffer overflow via the auto-response away message mechanism. Yet another reason to switch to, IMHO, a better client such as gaim."

3 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. more buffer over flows by RLW · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When are we going to learn to incorporate bounds checking in to everything ? We have the CPU cyclces.

  2. Re:gaim Bug by gtaluvit · · Score: 4, Insightful

    October of 2003 wasn't "just found" not to mention you have to install a plugin that doesn't come with gaim by default. We're talking default configuration on windows compared to a nonstandard configuration on some OS. Apples and oranges.

    --
    - gtaluvit (prnc. GOT-tuh-LUV-it)
  3. Gaim works by DrYak · · Score: 5, Insightful
    that they should use bug-ridden software is the wrong way to get them to like it. Gaim is only in version 0.81. Wait till it hits 1.0 before telling people to use it.


    {thongue in cheek mode:ON}
    Apparently you have no idea what Open Source Software is either
    {/thongue in cheek mode:OFF}

    More seriously : Unlike proprietary software, a opensource software whose version number is less than 1.x usually means more "warning: Not all cool function you would like to see are implemented yet" rather than "This software is an expreminental piece of crap, that will keep crashing your OS, please wait until we get out of beta stage before testing it, unless you backup your data often".

    Personnaly I've been using Gaim since version 0.5x both under linux at home and under windows at work, and I can say : It's pretty stable. I've been telling my brother and my friends about it and they are happy too.
    The only reason it hasn't reached the 1.x milestone isn't because of the bugs, but because there are some features it's still missing (Mainly : some kind of file upload are missing, although things are a lot better since 0.80 ; Support for Webcams, etc ...)

    This is a common misconception, and a lot of newbie users can be heard complaining "Linux distro sucks, It' only full of bug ridden software : everything is version 0.xy"

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]