Anonymous Reader writes “ELJonline.com (a joint project of LinuxDevices.com and Embedded Linux Journal) has published the online version of the May, 2002 edition of the Embedded Linux Journal. As usual, the new issue is filled with interesting and informative articles on embedded Linux technologies and projects, including . . .

• WANDER: a Portable Linux Data-Collection System
• Update on Linux compatible Single-Board Computers
• VOCAL: Open Source VoIP Software for Linux
• Writing Portable Device Drivers
• GAR: Automating Entire OS Builds
• BOEL, Part 2: Kernel Configuration and Booting
• Real Time and Linux, Part 3: Sub-Kernels and Benchmarks
• NIC Contest Winners
• Linux4.TV Contest Update

The May 2002 online magazine is available here“

From ZDNet:
“Microsoft’s intriguing legal fight to prevent a start-up from identifying itself and its software as “Lindows” provides some valuable lessons for
companies of every size–including Microsoft itself, which has had more trademark troubles than necessary for a Fortune 100 company.”

From Linux and Main:
“The answer to the title of this article is a single sentence, but you’ll have to read the whole article to understand it. The Linux community has an
amazing blind spot, and I’d like to rant about it a bit.

I keep bumping into programmers who think some program or other is needed to change the world. They’re wrong. “Linux just needs this one program and
then we’ll be ready!” they cry. I generally want to slap these people until they snap out of it (which is kind of hard to do through an internet
connection). They are making a fundamentally wrong assumption. It’s not about programs. It’s about data.”

From ZDNet UK:
“Miss Piggy and Kermit apparently like Linux.

Red Hat, the leading seller of the operating system, said Tuesday that Jim Henson’s Creature Shop is using its version of Linux to power its design
studio and other digital projects.”

SuSE: “Sudo contains a heap overflow in its
prompt assembling function. The input used to create the password prompt
is user controlled and not properly length-checked before copied to certain
heap locations. This allows local attackers to overflow the heap of sudo,
thus executing arbitrary commands as root.
“

____________________________________________________________________________

                        SuSE Security Announcement

        Package:                sudo
        Announcement-ID:        SuSE-SA:2002:014
        Date:                   Tue Apr 30 16:00:00 MEST 2002
        Affected products:      6.4, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 8.0,
                                SuSE Firewall Adminhost VPN,
                                SuSE Linux Admin-CD for Firewall,
                                SuSE Linux Enterprise Server,
                                SuSE Linux Connectivity Server
        Vulnerability Type:     local privilege escalation
        Severity (1-10):        6
        SuSE default package:   yes
        Other affected systems: All systems with sudo installed.

    Content of this advisory:
        1) security vulnerability resolved: Heap overflow in sudo.
           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

    The sudo program allows local users to execute certain configured
    commands with root priviledges. Sudo contains a heap overflow in its
    prompt assembling function. The input used to create the password prompt
    is user controlled and not properly length-checked before copied to certain
    heap locations. This allows local attackers to overflow the heap of sudo,
    thus executing arbitrary commands as root.
        We would like to thank GlobalInterSec for finding and researching
    this vulnerability.
        As a temporary workaround you may remove the setuid bit from sudo by
    issuing the following command as root: "chmod -s /usr/bin/sudo".

    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/ap1/sudo-1.6.5p2-79.i386.rpm
b54f68ff4b32f9d920f2f1ff887d1ddc
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/8.0/zq1/sudo-1.6.5p2-79.src.rpm
fd1ccf6fe52c6b999c5ed24a2f3a4e65

    SuSE-7.3
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.3/ap1/sudo-1.6.3p7-83.i386.rpm
80edbf5caf02c519cf2c01d6ba76d22f
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.3/zq1/sudo-1.6.3p7-83.src.rpm
77962932840740ce5e3dfe57a887592d

    SuSE-7.2
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.2/ap1/sudo-1.6.3p6-92.i386.rpm
669aa8db134e39f462cb9f2648f6735f
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.2/zq1/sudo-1.6.3p6-92.src.rpm
249b1ef0135dcfede3648982900e277c

    SuSE-7.1
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.1/ap1/sudo-1.6.3p6-91.i386.rpm
6b3b84f0a4c687e91da179937b87048a
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.1/zq1/sudo-1.6.3p6-91.src.rpm
bf59a6b200a0fb130f3528ce23698be0

    SuSE-7.0
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.0/ap1/sudo-1.6.3p6-90.i386.rpm
5b67ef9fed383242111953d942c62174
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.0/zq1/sudo-1.6.3p6-90.src.rpm
c35f6390b360500b7b649e4590a748cc

    SuSE-6.4
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/6.4/ap1/sudo-1.5.9p1-87.i386.rpm
82d98116eccc73c7a0ce03a51e9b5378
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/6.4/zq1/sudo-1.5.9p1-87.src.rpm
e75e2608036a963a7339fe4632a2550b

    Sparc Platform:

    SuSE-7.3
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.3/ap1/sudo-1.6.3p7-33.sparc.rpm
bd492b6d601ceb30486e3e970a2211a3
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.3/zq1/sudo-1.6.3p7-33.src.rpm
d2435d180cdd76647e1f1416e93c2420

    SuSE-7.1
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.1/ap1/sudo-1.6.3p6-37.sparc.rpm
bbad36265f93fac25d59f8c26b1ccd52
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.1/zq1/sudo-1.6.3p6-37.src.rpm
a328d2eb0fdc816341a68febfeb5a33a

    SuSE-7.0
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.0/ap1/sudo-1.6.3p6-36.sparc.rpm
48e7b360b45bae0b3e9e90b3bf945f75
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.0/zq1/sudo-1.6.3p6-36.src.rpm
bd8f11a8916340e0d243ae1cc647df26

    AXP Alpha Platform:

    SuSE-7.1
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.1/ap1/sudo-1.6.3p6-40.alpha.rpm
4505dd58fe309ef0a4515db6a6980ec4
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.1/zq1/sudo-1.6.3p6-40.src.rpm
85dfbe40da4d93d54d3c16f6489a7f32

    SuSE-7.0
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.0/ap1/sudo-1.6.3p6-40.alpha.rpm
b67858459774e5e04c9c22e84d5899ff
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.0/zq1/sudo-1.6.3p6-40.src.rpm
6d0537068d16785bfdbca936c6395abb

    PPC Power PC Platform:

    SuSE-7.3
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.3/ap1/sudo-1.6.3p7-65.ppc.rpm
1734f578b1fa87c26e51a11e3dc90d18
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.3/zq1/sudo-1.6.3p7-65.src.rpm
ebff8b3e7b86ef9bb69fb13da37903ce

    SuSE-7.1
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.1/ap1/sudo-1.6.3p6-45.ppc.rpm
4318adbde184c1c8fff6eb581f02c11e
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.1/zq1/sudo-1.6.3p6-45.src.rpm
771f9e7f6d1fc1ba4df119147e48ddcd


    SuSE-7.0
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.0/ap1/sudo-1.6.3p6-45.ppc.rpm
6ae150cfa793f20e49ed751aa686fdea
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.0/zq1/sudo-1.6.3p6-45.src.rpm
ede5fedf45ffe6b59c43e082fcef50f4

    SuSE-6.4
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/6.4/ap1/sudo-1.5.9p1-85.ppc.rpm
0677a205615f631a41ca308be03db7bd
    source rpm:
    ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/6.4/zq1/sudo-1.5.9p1-85.src.rpm
71da4a7d43043b20eefd5e05048616d8



____________________________________________________________________________

2)  Pending vulnerabilities in SuSE Distributions and Workarounds:

    - ifup-dhcp could be tricked into executing arbitrary
    commands as root by DHCP servers handing out illegal values (e.g.
    containing spaces), because it sourced dhcpcd's info file, where
    not all variable values are quoted. This problem has been fixed.


____________________________________________________________________________

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 GmbH 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>

Caldera: “A race condition in various utilities from the GNU fileutils package may cause a root user to delete the whole filesystem.”

____________________________________________________________________________

                Caldera International, Inc.  Security Advisory

Subject:                Linux: Race condition in fileutils
Advisory number:        CSSA-2002-018.0
Issue date:             2002 April 26
Cross reference:
____________________________________________________________________________


1. Problem Description

        A race condition in various utilities from the GNU fileutils
        package may cause a root user to delete the whole filesystem.


2. Vulnerable Supported Versions

        System                          Package
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------

        OpenLinux 3.1.1 Server          prior to fileutils-4.1-4.i386.rpm

        OpenLinux 3.1.1 Workstation     prior to fileutils-4.1-4.i386.rpm

        OpenLinux 3.1 Server            prior to fileutils-4.1-4.i386.rpm

        OpenLinux 3.1 Workstation       prior to fileutils-4.1-4.i386.rpm


3. Solution

        The proper solution is to install the latest packages.


4. OpenLinux 3.1.1 Server

        4.1 Package Location

        ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/updates/OpenLinux/3.1.1/Server/current/RPMS

4.2 Packages

        608a5485dd9a8799795254ba7d2089da        fileutils-4.1-4.i386.rpm

        4.3 Installation

        rpm -Fvh fileutils-4.1-4.i386.rpm

        4.4 Source Package Location

        ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/updates/OpenLinux/3.1.1/Server/current/SRPMS

4.5 Source Packages

        c44a43f1ce810a01978ce2e8efadadbf        fileutils-4.1-4.src.rpm


5. OpenLinux 3.1.1 Workstation

        5.1 Package Location

        ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/updates/OpenLinux/3.1.1/Workstation/current/RPMS

5.2 Packages

        f10c905587b4221fc794cefaf262e9ee        fileutils-4.1-4.i386.rpm

        5.3 Installation

        rpm -Fvh fileutils-4.1-4.i386.rpm

        5.4 Source Package Location

        ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/updates/OpenLinux/3.1.1/Workstation/current/SRPMS

5.5 Source Packages

        7e5519acdca5c17d12b3598847ec1ded        fileutils-4.1-4.src.rpm


6. OpenLinux 3.1 Server

        6.1 Package Location

        ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/updates/OpenLinux/3.1/Server/current/RPMS

6.2 Packages

        334154c1635b50ad81a2f1b841ccadd8        fileutils-4.1-4.i386.rpm

        6.3 Installation

        rpm -Fvh fileutils-4.1-4.i386.rpm

        6.4 Source Package Location

        ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/updates/OpenLinux/3.1/Server/current/SRPMS

6.5 Source Packages

        6a12bbcaefb252eac3fe4b79464881e4        fileutils-4.1-4.src.rpm


7. OpenLinux 3.1 Workstation

        7.1 Package Location

        ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/updates/OpenLinux/3.1/Workstation/current/RPMS

7.2 Packages

        2db4e5565fc7d38ee5cdf3be57f86301        fileutils-4.1-4.i386.rpm

        7.3 Installation

        rpm -Fvh fileutils-4.1-4.i386.rpm

        7.4 Source Package Location

        ftp://ftp.caldera.com/pub/updates/OpenLinux/3.1/Workstation/current/SRPMS

7.5 Source Packages

        1b5ef3933f229b68cd8e24fb75c5a0de        fileutils-4.1-4.src.rpm


8. References

        Specific references for this advisory:

                http://mail.gnu.org/pipermail/bug-fileutils/2002-March/002440.htmlhttp://isec.pl/vulnerabilities/0002.txt Wojciech Purczynski (iSEC

        Caldera OpenLinux security resources:
                http://www.caldera.com/support/security/index.html

Caldera UNIX security resources:
                http://stage.caldera.com/support/security/

This security fix closes Caldera incidents sr862917, fz520627,
        erg712018.

9. Disclaimer

        Caldera International, Inc. is not responsible for the misuse
        of any of the information we provide on this website and/or
        through our security advisories. Our advisories are a service
        to our customers intended to promote secure installation and
        use of Caldera products.


10. Acknowledgements

        Wojciech Purczynski (iSEC Security Research, http://isec.pl)
        reported this vulnerability. 

____________________________________________________________________________

The Register is reporting that “Alan Cox has issued a wake up call to the Linux community amid concerns that the pending European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD) could stymie open source development. The directive, which was approved last year, extends European copyright legislation so that it is even more restrictive than America’s controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), critics argue.”

Swyink.com: While previous versions of Apache were a great solution in environments running Unix or Linux, the Windows version always lagged behind in terms of performance. The fact that Apache holds over 50% of the Web server market is testament to its performance and reliability. However, up until now, that was pretty much limited to the *nix world. Yes, a Win32 version has been available for a long time. However, the new version really takes Apache to a level where you should give it serious consideration on your Windows 2000 servers

Eugene von Niederhausern writes “Robert Hashemian from Internet Telphony writes: “Perhaps the major difference between these two camps is a concept they have in common: Openness. In the case of Linux, openness is exercised in its true meaning. The source codes, the documentation, and all the relevant information are open to the public for their inspection and even modification. In the case of Microsoft, openness appears in a somewhat demented form…”Story at www.tmcnet.com.

Internetnews.com reports that GreyMagic Software says both Netscape and Mozilla browsers are at risk for an attack that would allow local files to be read.

“According to a security posting on its Web site, the Israel-based software company found that a component for retrieving XML documents from a Web server, known as XMLHTTP, can be used to read local files by blindly following server-side redirections.”