[ILUG] openssh vulnerability

[Paul Jakma]

On Tue, 25 Jun 2002, kevin lyda wrote:

> another interpretation is this:
> 
> if the openssh team releases a patch today, the crackers will know the
> vulnerability immediately.  if the openssh team releases privsep across
> the ports (which appears to also stop the attack), then the crackers
> are no wiser.
> 
> the "vulnerability clock" starts ticking the moment a patch comes out
> that directly addresses the problem.  privsep will protect systems,
> but not directly give away the vulnerability.

the vulnerability clock started ticking as soon as the problem was 
introduced in public code!

The problem may have been there for months or longer, some black hats
may have known of it way before ISS / Theo.

it /seems/ theo has chosen to dictate security policy to vendors
rather than work with vendors to have an actual fix ready for the
publish date. Which means that the only way to have a fix installed
on or before Theo's publish date is to install privsep (which has
only been proven on OpenBSD and doesnt yet work nicely with pam,
etc.. apparently).

So it seems there's guaranteed to be a window of opportunity for a 
remote ssh exploit on all non-OpenBSD systems.

ah well...

> kevin

regards,
-- 
Paul Jakma	paul at clubi.ie	paul at jakma.org	Key ID: 64A2FF6A
Fortune:
If you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars.
		-- J. Paul Getty