OMG! The world is coming to an end! UNIX has a security vulnerability!!!

[guyver01]

CERT advisory
Washington Post Article

Unix Security Hole In CDE
Administrators of Unix-based systems are being warned that hackers have begun to take advantage of a security hole found some time ago. The CERT Coordination Center says it has received "credible reports" of Sun Solaris systems being compromised by hackers with the help of a vulnerability in unpatched versions of a CDE component. Many systems may have shipped with CDE installed and enabled by default, even if the system operators aren't making use of the graphical desktop itself.

 

[Modeps]

its not a hole in Unix, its a hole in CDE.

 

[Saltin]

Guyver, would you post this in the OS forum? If you don't want to I will . There are a few UNIX zealots in there I would like to have a laugh at/with.

 

[guyver01]

What is the Common Desktop Environment (CDE)?

The Common Desktop Environment (CDE) is an integrated graphical user interface for open systems desktop computing. It delivers a single, standard graphical interface for the management of data and files (the graphical desktop) and applications. CDE's primary benefits -- deriving from ease-of-use, consistency, configurability, portability, distributed design, and protection of investment in today's applications -- make open systems desktop computers as easy to use as PCs, but with the added power of local and network resources available at the click of a mouse.

 

[guyver01]

<< Guyver, would you post this in the OS forum? If you don't want to I will . There are a few UNIX zealots in there I would like to have a laugh at/with. >>



LOL.. sure... i emailed it to all my friends that are unix/linux zealots that wont run "windows because its so security vulnerable, unlike linux" hahahahahaha

 

[Mill]

Too bad this is a REPOST.

 

[StageLeft]

It's because bill gates has a team of people looking for it. Damn MS!!!

 

[guyver01]

<< Too bad this is a REPOST. >>



WHERE??? i did a search on unix and cde! didn't find anything!

 

[hevnsnt]

I hope you all are kidding..

There are several holes/exploits in *nix systems, difference is, they are open source and get fixed in a matter of seconds... not days as in MS. They are found everyday

 

[burnedout]

There are several holes/exploits in *nix systems, difference is, they are open source and get fixed in a matter of seconds... not days as in MS. They are found everyday

Good summary. Holes and exploits in *nix are nothing new.

 

[Windogg]

*nix has a lot of buffer overflows. They are just not as public. Look at the statistics and your realize that 40% - 50% of website defacements are Apache on *nix platforms.

An O/S is also only as secure at the administrator wants to make it. A smart W2K admin could secure a W2K server while a dumb *nix admin could swiss cheese the most secure versions on *nix.

Windogg

 

[guyver01]

<< they are open source and get fixed in a matter of seconds... not days as in MS. >>



That may be true, but why then does the article indicate hackers have begun to take advantage of a security hole found some time ago. Was this a hole the *nix community decided wasn't bad enough to fix, and someone decided to prove them wrong?