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| LinuxSecurity.com Weekly Newsletter |
| June 30th 2006 Volume 7, Number 27a |
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Editors: Dave Wreski Benjamin D. Thomas
dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Linux Advisory Watch is a comprehensive newsletter that outlines the
security vulnerabilities that have been announced throughout the
week. It includes pointers to updated packages and descriptions of
each vulnerability.
This week, advisories were released for courier, pinball, kernel,
mysql, gd, tete, libwmf, mutt, php4, mozilla, and freetype2. The
distributors include Debian, Mandriva, and SuSE.
---
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life.
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---
Review: Object-Oriented PHP
By: Efren J. Belizario
PHP has grown to become one of the most popular scripting languages on
the web. It offers many possibilities to its users, from building a
complex and innovative content management system to forming a simplistic
family photo album. PHP is also a useful programming language in that
it helps eliminate redundancy while promoting time-saving and dynamic
methodology. With PHP and an object-oriented approach (OO), using PHP
has countless advantages. Peter Lavin's highlights this and more in
Object-Oriented PHP.
Audience:
Lavin's approach makes this book very easy to read, however, this is
not meant for the novice programmer. Lavin expects that the reader
has some knowledge of PHP or C, HTML, and CSS. Lavin is not shy about
jumping right into the programming terminology as he warns the reader
of this in the opening chapter. If you are familiar with PHP, read
it. If you are familiar with OO, read it. This will get your feet wet
and eventually soak you all the way through. If you plan on using PHP
to create your dynamic website, have this book ready.
Summary:
Lavin begins with the cliche "What Does This Book Have to Offer?" and
"Why Should I Read This Book?". Naturally, an advanced programmer
would overlook these sections, but it is surprising how much OO and
PHP go hand-in-hand (even without realizing it). He also gives a quick
rundown of each chapter and the histories of PHP and OO.
The purpose of OO is to help simplify your work with PHP. Lavin uses
the example of a global menu - instead of copying and pasting the same
snippet of code for each page, use an include and, viola, your
keystrokes and right mouse clicks do not have to be used in vain.
Simplicity cuts down the losses in time and energy objects that
programmers cannot spare.
Chapters 2 through 9 are overviews of object orientation, OO
features in PHP 5, and classes. The first sightings of actual code
do not appear until the fourth chapter when Lavin introduces his
DirectoryItems class. Eventually, he offers enough code for the reader
to create his/her own image navigation interface to begin a working
photo album (complete with file browsing, pagination, and, of course,
use of MySQL).
Later chapters dive deeper into the concepts and tools learned from
the first half of the book. MySQL exceptions and trappings are
covered in Chapter 10, while Lavin introduces advanced methods and
techniques, such as reflection classes, using XML and CSS, in
Chapters 11 through 16.
Opinion:
What I would like to see more of is AJAX and PHP. Peter Lavin
admits that he is not the one to give a tutorial on such a subject,
however, he does tease us with a paragraph that sets us up for
building a foundation on AJAX. He also graciously provides us with
a URL for further investigation.
As you continue your journey with PHP, do so with the use of OO
and the inheritance of effective, time-saving methods. PHP and OO
allow you to do so as Lavin clearly suggests in Object-Oriented
PHP. This is not a PHP Bible, by any means, but it is a useful
book to add to your library.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/123179/49/
----------------------
Security on your mind?
The Community edition of EnGarde Secure Linux is completely
free and open source. Updates are also freely available when
you register with the Guardian Digital Secure Network.
http://www.engardelinux.org/modules/index/register.cgi
---
Linux File & Directory Permissions Mistakes
One common mistake Linux administrators make is having file and
directory permissions that are far too liberal and allow access
beyond that which is needed for proper system operations. A full
explanation of unix file permissions is beyond the scope of this
article, so I'll assume you are familiar with the usage of such
tools as chmod, chown, and chgrp. If you'd like a refresher, one
is available right here on linuxsecurity.com.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/119415/49/
--------
--> Take advantage of the LinuxSecurity.com Quick Reference Card!
--> http://www.linuxsecurity.com/docs/QuickRefCard.pdf
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| Distribution: Debian | ----------------------------//
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* Debian: New courier packages fix denial of service
23rd, June, 2006
Updated package.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/123289
* Debian: New pinball packages fix privilege escalation
26th, June, 2006
Steve Kemp from the Debian Security Audit project discovered that
pinball, a pinball simulator, can be tricked into loading level
plugins from user-controlled directories without dropping privileges.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/123316
* Debian: New Linux kernel 2.6.8 packages fix several vulnerabilities
27th, June, 2006
Several local and remote vulnerabilities have been discovered in the
Linux kernel that may lead to a denial of service or the execution of
arbitrary code.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/123335
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| Distribution: Mandriva | ----------------------------//
+---------------------------------+
* Mandriva: Updated MySQL packages fixes authorized user DoS(crash)
vulnerability.
23rd, June, 2006
Mysqld in MySQL 4.1.x before 4.1.18, 5.0.x before 5.0.19, and 5.1.x
before 5.1.6 allows remote authorized users to cause a denial of
service (crash) via a NULL second argument to the str_to_date
function.
MySQL 4.0.18 in Corporate 3.0 and MNF 2.0 is not affected by this
issue. Packages have been patched to correct this issue.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/123305
* Mandriva: Updated gd packages fix DoS vulnerability.
27th, June, 2006
The LZW decoding in the gdImageCreateFromGifPtr function in the
Thomas Boutell graphics draw (GD) library (aka libgd) 2.0.33 allows
remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via
malformed GIF data that causes an infinite loop. gd-2.0.15 in
Corporate 3.0 is not affected by this issue. Packages have been
patched to correct this issue.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/123346
* Mandriva: Updated tetex packages fix embedded GD vulnerabilities
27th, June, 2006
Integer overflows were reported in the GD Graphics Library (libgd)
2.0.28, and possibly other versions. These overflows allow remote
attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute
arbitrary code via PNG image files with large image rows values that
lead to a heap-based buffer overflow in the gdImageCreateFromPngCtx()
function. Tetex contains an embedded copy of the GD library code.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/123347
* Mandriva: Updated libwmf packages fixes embedded GD vulnerability
28th, June, 2006
Integer overflows were reported in the GD Graphics Library (libgd)
2.0.28, and possibly other versions. These overflows allow remote
attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute
arbitrary code via PNG image files with large image rows values that
lead to a heap-based buffer overflow in the gdImageCreateFromPngCtx()
function. Libwmf contains an embedded copy of the GD library code.
(CAN-2004-0941) Updated packages have been patched to address this
issue.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/123348
* Mandriva: Updated mutt packages fix buffer overflow vulnerability
28th, June, 2006
A stack-based buffer overflow in the browse_get_namespace function in
imap/browse.c of Mutt allows remote attackers to cause a denial of
service (crash) or execute arbitrary code via long namespaces
received from the IMAP server. Updated packages have been patched to
address this issue.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/123364
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| Distribution: SuSE | ----------------------------//
+---------------------------------+
* SuSE: php4 bugfix update (SUSE-SA:2006:034)
22nd, June, 2006
Updated package.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/123284
* SuSE: various Mozilla browser security
23rd, June, 2006
Updated package.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/123290
* SuSE: mysql remote code execution
23rd, June, 2006
Updated package.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/123291
* SuSE: freetype2 (SUSE-SA:2006:037)
27th, June, 2006
The freetype2 library renders TrueType fonts for open source
projects. More than 900 packages on SUSE Linux use this library.
Therefore the integer overflows in this code found by Josh Bressers
and Chris Evans might have a high impact on the security of a desktop
system. The bugs can lead to a remote denial-of-service attack and
may lead to remote command execution. The user needs to use a program
that uses freetype2 (almost all GUI applications do) and let this
program process malicious font data.
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/content/view/123336
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