Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Cambridge Researcher Breaks OpenBSD Systrace

Posted by kdawson on from the without-a-trace dept.

An anonymous reader writes "University of Cambridge researcher Robert Watson has published a paper at the First USENIX Workshop On Offensive Technology in which he describes serious vulnerabilities in OpenBSD's Systrace, Sudo, Sysjail, the TIS GSWTK framework, and CerbNG. The technique is also effective against many commercially available anti-virus systems. His slides include sample exploit code that bypasses access control, virtualization, and intrusion detection in under 20 lines of C code consisting solely of memcpy() and fork(). Sysjail has now withdrawn their software, recommending against any use, and NetBSD has disabled Systrace by default in their upcoming release."

15 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. I'm not worried by Gazzonyx · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm not worried about a vuln. in sudo; I always log in as root and don't have sudo running :). Remember, Real Programmers log in as root. Take that h4x0rz!

    --

    If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.

    1. Re:I'm not worried by eno2001 · · Score: 5, Funny

      You know the old saying... "you get what you stay for". As long as you're logging in as root you will damage your system. It's a known fact. Anyone who logs in as root eventually dostoyevsky's their system. Logging in as root is dangerous. Even using 'su -' is dangerous. 'sudo' provides some level of security and accountability but even that is dangerous. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people type 'sudo bash' and then tool around doing everything as root all the time. The only way to really be safe is to never use any super user abilities whatsoever. The way I've handled it is that any time I run into something that I need root access for, I just give up. So I don't have any new users other than the ones I originally set up when I installed Ubuntu. I also don't have any access to the CD-RW drive built into the system, but that's OK since I'm not an illegal music and software pirate (only pirates use CD-R/CD-RW). I can't use the attached scanner that once worked in Windows 98 but that's OK since there is no need to scan photos or anything in Linux since there are no apps with which to work on them anyway. Whenever the system pops up asking me for the root password I just cancel out and stick with whatever settings the system had. Basically for me, a request for the root password is a threat to the security of my PC, myself and possible the nation or even global security. So in short DO NOT EVER USE root access of ANY kind. It's very dangerous and best left to the experts (bearded and bald scientists in dusty university halls).

      --
      -"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
    2. Re:I'm not worried by bl8n8r · · Score: 3, Funny

      Thank God! A user that finally gets security! Look at those pigs wizzin by...

      --
      boycott slashdot February 10th - 17th check out: altSlashdot.org
  2. No need for alarm! by Antarius · · Score: 5, Funny

    The tremors that you are feeling are from the sounds of the collective users of OpenBSD all simultaneously shouting "Fuck!" in exasperation.

    1. Re:No need for alarm! by nateb · · Score: 5, Funny
      The tremors that you are feeling are from the sounds of the collective users of OpenBSD all simultaneously shouting "Fuck!" in exasperation.

      All twelve of them. :)

      I like the thought of openbsd, though, having never used it. I'm sure everything will be fine.

      --
      -- Nate
    2. Re:No need for alarm! by peacefinder · · Score: 5, Funny

      All twelve of them. :)

      We yell really loud.

      (And I actually yelled "Wow!". We're not a homogenous lot.)

      --
      With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but to tyrants I will give no quarter. -- William Lloyd
  3. Re:so much for... by MrNaz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why didn't you just say "I'm scared." ?

    --
    I hate printers.
  4. OpenBSD Security by pathological+liar · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... now if only this would lead to a little ego deflation and humility among OpenBSD developers.

    As long as I'm dreaming, I also want a pony.

    1. Re:OpenBSD Security by frenchbedroom · · Score: 3, Funny

      Parish that thought.

      You mean like, put it in a convent or something ? Oh no, I get it, you mean he should build a little chapel in memory of it, right ?

  5. Ha Ha by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sweet justice! My Win98 boxes have finally protected me against a hole. I am invinci*^&#%
    $#%#^&&!#$@$

    [CONNNECTION LOST]

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  6. Brace for impact... by Mattintosh · · Score: 5, Funny

    Theo DeRaadt goes on a rampage in 5... 4... 3... 2...

  7. Re:no by Steve+Baker · · Score: 5, Funny

    Exactly, why would anyone want to put a computer on the internet? That's just stupid!

  8. Re:Article? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Are the webservers better now, or has the power of slashdot effect declined? Or have I just been lucky?

    Yes.

  9. Re:Article? by jjrockman · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nah, it's just that nobody RTFA anymore.

    --
    Quit jabbering on the phone while driving. You are not that important.
  10. Re:so much for... by EvanED · · Score: 5, Funny

    On my list of the 10 best OSS projects, OpenBSD is in the top 5.

    In other words... it's in your list of the 5 best OSS projects.

    (sorry)