Linux supporters have roundly criticized a recent report from the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT), which reported that during 2005, Linux and Unix combined had 2,328 vulnerabilities, compared with 812 vulnerabilities for Microsoft Windows. Linux practitioners say the counts are skewed because they count the same vulnerability each time it appeared last year in any given Linux distribution. By doing this, they say, one bug could actually show up in the list dozens of times, depending on the number of Linux variants it appeared in. The CERT stats also appear to include problems with scripting languages such as PHP or even applications that are not part of the core Linux operating system but instead are used with it. . Another complaint about the CERT numbers, aside from lumping Unix and Linux into the same bucket, is a behavior specific to the open-source community. There might well be multiple reports for the same bug, says David Humphrey, a senior technology adviser for Ekaru, a Westford, Mass.-based consultancy. The link for this article located at Information Week is no longer available. . Concerns regarding CERT metrics highlight issues in the counting of Windows and MacOS security flaws, questioning the reliability of their assessment approach.. Linux Vulnerabilities, Open Source Issues, CERT Criticism, Security Statistics. . Benjamin D. Thomas
Welcome to Security Alerts, an overview of recent Unix and open source security advisories. In this column, we look at a security vulnerability in LIDS; buffer overflows in CUPS, jgroff, Sun Solstice Enterprise Master Agent, and Ettercap; and problems in Sawmill, Faq-O-Matic, pforum, GNAT, Taylor UUCP, and IRIX O2 Video.. . .. Welcome to Security Alerts, an overview of recent Unix and open source security advisories. In this column, we look at a security vulnerability in LIDS; buffer overflows in CUPS, jgroff, Sun Solstice Enterprise Master Agent, and Ettercap; and problems in Sawmill, Faq-O-Matic, pforum, GNAT, Taylor UUCP, and IRIX O2 Video. LIDS is a Linux kernel patch and admin tool that enhances Linux kernel security and provides a reference monitor and Mandatory Access Control in the kernel. There are several vulnerabilities in LIDS that can be exploited by a local attacker to execute arbitrary commands with root permissions and bypass or disable LIDS. These vulnerabilities include problems with the LD_PRELOAD environment variable, writing directly to /dev/kmem, and a race condition in applications that are launched prior to LIDS being sealed. You may also be interested in Linux Advisory Watch, distributed weekly by LinuxSecurity.com. . Recent security advisories highlight multiple vulnerabilities in software and systems, including critical concerns with LIDS and CUPS, urging proactive patching and updates.. Linux Kernel, Unix Security, Open Source Flaws. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
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