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OSDL announces Linux database test tool available to Open Source community

PR Newswire: “Open Source Development Lab
(OSDL), today announced availability of an easy-to-use Web-based, performance
characterization test kit for the Linux operating system (OS) and its open
source software stack. The OSDL Data Base Test Suite (DBTS) can be used by
the Linux developer community to test the robustness and power of a database
server platform, enabling the Linux kernel developer to gauge the effects of
changes to the Linux kernel for this type of application.”

Microsoft dealt another blow on Lindows

News.com: Like the definition of the word “is,” the meaning of the word “Windows” has been the recent subject of judicial concern. A federal judge again questioned Microsoft’s assertion that the term is not generic, leaving the comapany empty-handed in its requests to have the Lindows.com site shut down and to block its owner from advertising its product. You can read the News.com story here. You can also read the details of the ruling along with selected quotes from the document at http://www.lindows.com/opposition.

SuSE Linux Advisory: lukemftp, nkitb, nkitserv

SuSE: “Lukemftp is a comportable ftp
client from NetBSD.
A buffer overflow could be triggered by an malicious ftp server while the
client parses the PASV ftp command. An attacker who control an ftp server
to which a client using lukemftp is connected can gain remote access to
the clients machine with the privileges of the user running lukeftp.


____________________________________________________________________________

                        SuSE Security Announcement

        Package:                lukemftp, nkitb, nkitserv
        Announcement-ID:        SuSE-SA:2002:018
        Date:                   Wednesday, May 15th 2002 12:30 MEST
        Affected products:      6.4, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 8.0
                                SuSE eMail Server III
                                SuSE Linux Database Server
                                SuSE Firewall Adminhost VPN
                                SuSE Linux Live-CD for Firewall
                                SuSE Linux Admin-CD for Firewall
                                SuSE Linux Connectivity Server
                                SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7
                                SuSE Linux Enterprise Server for S/390
        Vulnerability Type:     remote command execution
        Severity (1-10):        3
        SuSE default package:   yes
        Other affected systems: all systems using lukemftp

    Content of this advisory:
        1) security vulnerability resolved: buffer overflow while parsing PASV
                                            command
           problem description, discussion, solution and upgrade information
        2) pending vulnerabilities, solutions, workarounds
        3) standard appendix (further information)

____________________________________________________________________________

1)  problem description, brief discussion, solution, upgrade information

    Lukemftp (ftp(1), /usr/bin/ftp, /usr/bin/pftp) is a comportable ftp
    client from NetBSD.
    A buffer overflow could be triggered by an malicious ftp server while the
    client parses the PASV ftp command. An attacker who control an ftp server
    to which a client using lukemftp is connected can gain remote access to
    the clients machine with the privileges of the user running lukeftp.

    The lukemftp RPM package is installed by default.
    You need to update the package, as no temporary workaround is possbible.

    Please download the update package for your distribution and verify its
    integrity by the methods listed in section 3) of this announcement.
    Then, install the package using the command "rpm -Fhv file.rpm" to apply
    the update.
    Our maintenance customers are being notified individually. The packages
    are being offered to install from the maintenance web.



    i386 Intel Platform:

    SuSE-8.0
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/8.0/n1/lukemftp-1.5-249.i386.rpm
      0ae28f7ca49157bfa5783626d3e82cef
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/8.0/zq1/lukemftp-1.5-249.src.rpm

      d9fc530c338ea2de122b6a4a1f89a627

    SuSE-7.3
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.3/n1/lukemftp-1.5-256.i386.rpm
      aeb64a5ba64b5b334dfcf244423a9809
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.3/zq1/lukemftp-1.5-256.src.rpm
      cc94b939696c76cda0fec683d12ff384

    SuSE-7.2
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.2/n1/lukemftp-1.5-256.i386.rpm
      94812aeb3b164a67b0c85b0c9a61a450
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.2/zq1/lukemftp-1.5-256.src.rpm
    5cd6642505a68be70ce9eac3ba5dd311

    SuSE-7.1
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.1/n1/lukemftp-1.5-251.i386.rpm

      836df6046ce81fcc82e9939fde5003d1
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.1/zq1/lukemftp-1.5-251.src.rpm
      788bc38fed7b486e857b5d780451b7a7

    SuSE-7.0
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.0/a1/nkitb-2002.5.8-0.i386.rpm
      e6199c28c700461a7ae10c3f7fba73a8
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.0/zq1/nkitb-2002.5.8-0.src.rpm
      e1c6379846842ea62a5c484167102cae

    SuSE-7.0
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.0/n1/nkitserv-2002.5.8-0.i386.rpm
      50bb6a7ae3f450ad530ad92ae8dad3e1

    SuSE-6.4
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/6.4/a1/nkitb-2002.5.9-0.i386.rpm

      6950a272cf3a30a02860cf179387a9e8
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/6.4/zq1/nkitb-2002.5.9-0.src.rpm
      09d7ac9ba5e1420eeddb016a6d812067



    Sparc Platform:

    SuSE-7.3
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.3/n1/lukemftp-1.5-77.sparc.rpm
      295d90e7bfeb94f27f542616e016bd65
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.3/zq1/lukemftp-1.5-77.src.rpm
    42e213cfc930e0a00aa871e9996d3cba

    SuSE-7.1
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.1/n1/lukemftp-1.5-76.sparc.rpm
      50fc0f99b42347aee746450624ed4817
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.1/zq1/lukemftp-1.5-76.src.rpm

      01cdff7ff9f908466b8d3269fe4529c5

    SuSE-7.0
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.0/a1/nkitb-2002.5.8-0.sparc.rpm
      210230a1a085af9f777f047a9edfa9f5
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.0/zq1/nkitb-2002.5.8-0.src.rpm
      b0e476e5ba4e9211cab20442f35b49d8

    SuSE-7.0
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.0/n1/nkitserv-2002.5.8-0.sparc.rpm
      70b063b1901c8655a23b008cc6ef4036



    AXP Alpha Platform:

    SuSE-7.1
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.1/n1/lukemftp-1.5-89.alpha.rpm
      27c6ca255ef42c7e6851f309d6474fcd
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.1/zq1/lukemftp-1.5-89.src.rpm

      fdc27d3abae5bf6dfcd06907d2afc278

    SuSE-7.0
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.0/a1/nkitb-2002.5.8-0.alpha.rpm
      2c397f234a2326baba98a4da8dff601a
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.0/zq1/nkitb-2002.5.8-0.src.rpm
      437a49653372205c4218e7283422fd6b

    SuSE-7.0
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.0/n1/nkitserv-2002.5.8-0.alpha.rpm
      e2943d09b3bf82883bfd62aff74e500b

    SuSE-6.4
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/6.4/a1/nkitb-2002.5.9-0.alpha.rpm
      33b7a7b2f81dc78035450c0643786c83
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/6.4/zq1/nkitb-2002.5.9-0.src.rpm

      60960a0129207b317fc22089f6203589



    PPC Power PC Platform:

    SuSE-7.3
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.3/n1/lukemftp-1.5-154.ppc.rpm
      fd6bc23e95cd7a19283dd4067f376bb3
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.3/zq1/lukemftp-1.5-154.src.rpm
      bb301c6487a09a2b3d82ce9b000b8f69

    SuSE-7.1
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.1/n1/lukemftp-1.5-150.ppc.rpm
      023a43cba32d976d0a5665365242647b
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.1/zq1/lukemftp-1.5-150.src.rpm
      53f38c8f4a3205b3bedbc76b209d177b

    SuSE-7.0
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.0/a1/nkitb-2002.5.8-0.ppc.rpm

      101d5af039c262f7b7e7d50598fa064c
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.0/zq1/nkitb-2002.5.8-0.src.rpm
      ed39244bcb57fad7b92287f5c9d26e3d

    SuSE-7.0
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.0/n1/nkitserv-2002.5.8-0.ppc.rpm
      b6146585ab16d1d507e04f066f21f5d6

    SuSE-6.4
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/6.4/a1/nkitb-2002.5.9-0.ppc.rpm
      10b66b58b887a1899df7e16b15689bfb
    source rpm:
      ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/6.4/zq1/nkitb-2002.5.9-0.src.rpm
      954dcd26ef2eb777e737621927f98835



____________________________________________________________________________

2)  Pending vulnerabilities in SuSE Distributions and Workarounds:

  - imap
    A bug report about a buffer overflow in the RFC1730 code of the wu-imap
    eMail server was published. SuSE Linux' imap packages were compiled
    without RFC1730 support, so SuSE Linux is not vulnerable to this bug per
    default.

  - dhcp
    A format string bug was found in the DynamicDNS (DDNS) code of ISC's
    DHCP server software. New RPMs are currently being build.

  - imlib
    Due to packaging failures we have to re-release the imlib packages
    which should be available within the next days. This update addresses
    missing dependencies and affects applications like xcdroast.

  - perl-Digest-MD5
    A bug was found in the UTF8 interaction between perl and perl-Digest-MD5
    which leads into failures while verifying the MD5 hash.
    New RPMs are currently being build.

____________________________________________________________________________

3)  standard appendix: authenticity verification, additional information

  - Package authenticity verification:

    SuSE update packages are available on many mirror ftp servers all over
    the world. While this service is being considered valuable and important
    to the free and open source software community, many users wish to be
    sure about the origin of the package and its content before installing
    the package. There are two verification methods that can be used
    independently from each other to prove the authenticity of a downloaded
    file or rpm package:
    1) md5sums as provided in the (cryptographically signed) announcement.
    2) using the internal gpg signatures of the rpm package.

    1) execute the command
        md5sum <name-of-the-file.rpm>

       after you downloaded the file from a SuSE ftp server or its mirrors.
       Then, compare the resulting md5sum with the one that is listed in the
       announcement. Since the announcement containing the checksums is
       cryptographically signed (usually using the key security@suse.de),
       the checksums show proof of the authenticity of the package.
       We disrecommend to subscribe to security lists which cause the
       email message containing the announcement to be modified so that
       the signature does not match after transport through the mailing
       list software.
       Downsides: You must be able to verify the authenticity of the
       announcement in the first place. If RPM packages are being rebuilt
       and a new version of a package is published on the ftp server, all
       md5 sums for the files are useless.

    2) rpm package signatures provide an easy way to verify the authenticity
       of an rpm package. Use the command
        rpm -v --checksig <file.rpm>
       to verify the signature of the package, where <file.rpm> is the
       filename of the rpm package that you have downloaded. Of course,
       package authenticity verification can only target an uninstalled rpm
       package file.
       Prerequisites:
        a) gpg is installed
        b) The package is signed using a certain key. The public part of this
           key must be installed by the gpg program in the directory
           ~/.gnupg/ under the user's home directory who performs the
           signature verification (usually root). You can import the key
           that is used by SuSE in rpm packages for SuSE Linux by saving
           this announcement to a file ("announcement.txt") and
           running the command (do "su -" to be root):
            gpg --batch; gpg < announcement.txt | gpg --import
           SuSE Linux distributions version 7.1 and thereafter install the
           key "build@suse.de" upon installation or upgrade, provided that
           the package gpg is installed. The file containing the public key
           is placed at the toplevel directory of the first CD (pubring.gpg)
           and at ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/pubring.gpg-build.suse.de .

  - SuSE runs two security mailing lists to which any interested party may
    subscribe:

    suse-security@suse.com

        -   general/linux/SuSE security discussion.
            All SuSE security announcements are sent to this list.
            To subscribe, send an email to
                <suse-security-subscribe@suse.com>.

    suse-security-announce@suse.com
        -   SuSE's announce-only mailing list.
            Only SuSE's security annoucements are sent to this list.
            To subscribe, send an email to
                <suse-security-announce-subscribe@suse.com>.

    For general information or the frequently asked questions (faq)
    send mail to:
        <suse-security-info@suse.com> or
        <suse-security-faq@suse.com> respectively.

    =====================================================================
    SuSE's security contact is <security@suse.com> or <security@suse.de>.
    The <security@suse.de> public key is listed below.
    =====================================================================
____________________________________________________________________________

    The information in this advisory may be distributed or reproduced,
    provided that the advisory is not modified in any way. In particular,
    it is desired that the cleartext signature shows proof of the
    authenticity of the text.
    SuSE Linux AG makes no warranties of any kind whatsoever with respect
    to the information contained in this security advisory.

Type Bits/KeyID    Date       User ID
pub  2048R/3D25D3D9 1999-03-06 SuSE Security Team <security@suse.de>

pub  1024D/9C800ACA 2000-10-19 SuSE Package Signing Key <build@suse.de>

Bye,
     Thomas
-- 
  Thomas Biege <thomas@suse.de>
  SuSE Linux AG,Deutschherrnstr. 15-19,90429 Nuernberg
  Function: Security Support & Auditing
  "lynx -source http://www.suse.de/~thomas/contact/thomas.asc | pgp -fka"
  Key fingerprint = 51 AD B9 C7 34 FC F2 54  01 4A 1C D4 66 64 09 83
-- 
        Trete durch die Form ein, und trete aus der Form  heraus.


Category:

  • Security

Win4Lin a different best way to do the wrong thing

LinuxWorld: “Win4Lin lets you run Microsoft Office and Lotus Notes from a Linux desktop. It works well. You need a valid Windows 9x license to make it go, which points out the price of running Windows on Linux can range from less expensive to more expensive than running Windows alone.”

Category:

  • Linux

Linux goes mainstream

From BusinessWeek:

“Linux is gaining momentum in nearly all corners of computing, and more and better programs now run on it. Now, it just needs a business model
For Mindbridge Chief Operating Officer and founder Scott Testa, the impetus for shifting to Linux came from a change in Microsoft’s licensing
policies. The new licenses, which push customers to pay annual subscription fees, would have boosted software costs at Mindbridge, a 300-employee
intranet software company, by tens of thousands of dollars annually. Testa figured that as long as Mindbridge was switching from Microsoft server
products, it might as well also move away from the Solaris operating system, the proprietary Unix software that runs only on expensive Sun
Microsystems’ hardware. “Mindbridge didn’t make the decision lightly. Migration snafus from switching server-operating systems can bring companies to a halt. But Testa claims
that Mindbridge experienced only a few minor glitches, and now he couldn’t be happier. “I’m not a Microsoft basher or a Solaris basher, but we’re
saving hundreds of thousands of dollars between support contracts, upgrade contracts, and hardware,” says Testa, who professes that even two years ago
he would have laughed off suggestions that he switch to Linux.”

Perl removed from base FreeBSD sources

From BSD today:
“Perl was removed from the base FreeBSD sources today. According to an announcement from FreeBSD developer, Mark Murray, the FreeBSD 4.x series will
continue with its current perl and the first FreeBSD that won’t have perl in its base sources will be 5.0-RELEASE. Perl will continue to be maintained
and available via the ports collection.”

Netscape 6.2.3 based on the Open Source Gecko engine, released

From Internet Product Watch:
“Version 6.2 of Netscape’s latest Web browser is now available as a free download from the Netscape site. The release is immediately available in
Windows, Mac, and Linux flavors. Version 6.01A is available for Solaris.

Based on the open-source “Gecko” browser engine, the browser boasts improved performance in a lighter (5.5mb – half the size of Navigator 4.8)
download. Additionally, the browser also claims full standards compliance with multiple Internet protocols, including XML, HTML 4, CSS1, and W3C DOM
Level 0 and 1.”

Category:

  • Open Source

StarOffice’s plan to rival Microsoft falls flat on compatibility, ease

From Walter S. Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal:
“I am writing this column using a new office productivity software suite for Windows that aims to bring real competition to a market dominated by
Microsoft Office. It’s called StarOffice 6.0 and it comes from Microsoft’s bitter rival, Sun Microsystems.

Like Microsoft Office, StarOffice includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program and database. Unlike Microsoft Office, it lacks an
e-mail and personal organizer module, such as Outlook.”

Category:

  • Open Source

Turbolinux announces release of new Linux workstation

Turbolinux writes “May 16, 2002 – San Francisco, Calif. – Turbolinux® Inc., a worldwide leader in Linux operating environments and multi-platform software deployment and management products, today announced availability of Turbolinux (TL) 8 Workstation.

In Japan, Turbolinux 8 Workstation will be the first Linux Operating System to be bundled with StarSuiteTM 6.0 (branded StarOfficeTM in the U.S.), Sun’s affordable alternative to proprietary office productivity suites. StarSuite provides tight compatibility with MS Office documents, has a simple, easy-to-use interface, and contains full-featured applications including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and graphics capabilities.

“Turbolinux is committed to making flexible computing a reality for the front office, as well as the back office,” said Pete Beckman, vice president of engineering for Turbolinux. “With the capabilities like the KDE 3 desktop, simple, GUI-installation, and multimedia features, Turbolinux 8 Workstation is the right choice for both developers and individual desktop users.”

“More and more enterprises today are doing business on multiple platforms, including Linux” said Mike Rogers, vice president and general manager of desktop and office productivity at Sun Microsystems. “With the help of Turbolinux and StarOffice, many Linux users will now have a full-featured office productivity suite – compatible with major platforms – to conduct everyday business.”

TL 8 Workstation includes e-mail, Konquerer – KDE’s combination Web browser/file manager/file preview application, and Hot-pluggable USB options for keyboard, mouse, CD-ROM, Floppy drive, speakers, and Ethernet. The distribution also supports the latest video cards including nVIDIA GeForce4, ATI Radeon 7500/8500, and Matrox G550. In addition, TL 8.0 Workstation is broadband-ready, able to connect to ADSL and cable high-speed networks and has extended support for various digital media including MP3.

“The inclusion of IBM’s Enterprise Volume Management System in TL 8 Workstation is a major enhancement to the standard volume management capabilities of Linux,” said Daniel Frye, director, IBM Linux Technology Center. “By incorporating EVMS, Turbolinux continues to demonstrate leadership in speeding the adoption of Linux in the enterprise.”

The product also comes bundled with several add-ons, including a trial version of the Intel® C++ and Fortran Compilers version 6.0. Through an agreement with Intel, Turbolinux users will receive a discount off the purchase price of the full compilers through August 2002.

About Turbolinux

Founded in 1992, Turbolinux® Inc. is a global software company providing Linux operating environments and multi-platform software deployment and management products that allow computing assets to be quickly redefined on demand – enabling true flexible processing power.

Backed by some of the world’s leading technology companies, including Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, NEC, Novell, Oracle, SGI and Toshiba, Turbolinux is headquartered near San Francisco with offices around the world. For more information, visit the Turbolinux Web site at http://www.turbolinux.com.”

Is high-tech railroad safety worth it?

Anonymous Reader writes “A new story from Baseline magazine tells how sensors, computers and digital communications to control trains could make rail transport safer–if railroads are willing to foot the bill.”

Category:

  • Migration