May 3, 2006 12:52 PM PDT

Open-source hunt digs up more flaws

By Joris Evers
Staff Writer, CNET News

Share
- Digg
- Del.icio.us
- Reddit
- Facebook
Email
Print

Related Stories: Developers fast to fix open-source bugs
April 4, 2006; LAMP lights the way in open-source security
March 6, 2006; Homeland Security helps secure open-source code
January 10, 2006

A U.S. government-sponsored open-source bug hunt has resulted in more patches and security alerts.

Vulnerabilities have been found and fixed in X Window System and Ethereal, two popular open-source software packages, according to Coverity, the maker of the code analysis tools used in the bug hunt.

The X Window System is used as the foundation of the graphical user interface of many Unix and Linux systems, while Ethereal is a sniffer tool used to analyze network traffic.

Several bugs were found in Ethereal, which is used by network administrators and hackers alike. The latest version, released last week, includes fixes for a host of security holes, including several that were identified in the scan. These flaws could allow a full compromise of a system running the vulnerable software, Coverity said. Security monitoring company Secunia deems the Ethereal issues "highly critical."

"Many of these are remotely exploitable," Andy Chou, Coverity's chief scientist, said in an interview on Wednesday. "You can send data packets, exploit it and get whatever access Ethereal is running at."

The flaw identified in X could allow a local, nonprivileged user to gain full, root-level access to a vulnerable computer, Coverity noted. The flaw, for which a patch has been available since March, is rated "less critical" by Secunia.

The bug hunt is part of a three-year "Open Source Hardening Project," dedicated to helping make such software as secure as possible. In January, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded $1.24 million to Stanford University, Coverity and Symantec to find vulnerabilities in open-source projects.

Developers have been quick to fix many bugs found as part of the program. More than 900 flaws were repaired in the two weeks after Coverity announced the results of its first scan of 32 open-source projects.

See more CNET content tagged:
Coverity, open source, flaw, bug, security

Latest tech news headlines

What you can-- and can't-- find about Palin on the Internet
Posted in News - Politics and Law by Stephanie Condon

September 4, 2008 10:20 PM PDT
Michael Moore plans Net-only film premiere
Posted in News - Digital Media by Steven Musil

September 4, 2008 9:20 PM PDT
McCain talks up oil drilling, green energy
Posted in News - Politics and Law by Declan McCullagh

September 4, 2008 9:11 PM PDT

RSS Feeds

Add headlines from CNET News to your homepage or feedreader.

More feeds available in our RSS feed index.

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right

Nanotech: The Circuits Blog
Timing rumors surface for AMD plant spin-off
Rumors persist that Advanced Micro Devices is planning to spin off all or part of its manufacturing operations.
Gallery
Photos: Ron Paul's RNC alternative
As the Republican convention took place just miles away, a crowd rallied for the former presidential candidate and his message of limited government, ensured civil liberties, lower taxes, and peace.
Digital Noise: Music and Tech
Was 1980s music that bad?
NPR asks listeners which year featured the best music, and the 1980s emerge as a bleak era. Personally, the '80s figure prominently in my collection, but well behind the 1970s.
Beyond Binary
Microsoft begins big ad push
Microsoft's multi-year push, estimated at $300 million, begins with a spot featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld aired during Thursday's NFL game.
Video
YouTube plays party politics
During the presidential campaigning four years ago, YouTube didn't even exist. Now it's a tool candidates must master to get their message across. CNET's Kara Tsuboi stops by the YouTube upload booths at the Democratic and Republican conventions to find out why Google's video site has such a big presence in Denver and St. Paul, Minn.
News - Digital Media
Michael Moore plans Net-only film premiere
Filmmaker plans to premiere his latest documentary exclusively on the Internet for free, forgoing the traditional theatrical release.
Video
Political party playlists
We know the Democrats and Republicans are split over policy issues, but does their musical taste fall down party lines too? And what kind of gadgets did they bring to the conventions to listen to their music? CNET reporter Kara Tsuboi finds out.
News - Politics and Law
What you can-- and can't-- find about Palin on the Internet
John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate has inspired a wealth of creativity on the Internet.
News - Cutting Edge
Execs predict next Google-like tech
On eve of company's 10-year anniversary, researchers and business pundits speculate about what technologies might someday have as much impact as Google.
Gallery
Photos: The brains behind Google Chrome
Here's a look at some of the engineers and executives who took the stage at the company's headquarters as they unveiled the new browser.
Webware
10 things we'd like to see in Chrome
Google's Chrome is pretty good, but it could be a whole lot better. We've rounded up 10 fairly extensive ways to tweak it to make it an all-around better browser.
Green Tech
Clean-tech group forms to support Obama
"Clean Tech and Green Business for Obama" aims to raise $1 million for the Democratic presidential nominee while elevating issues of climate change and alternative energy.