RE: CERT and Oracle

From: Guy Hammond <guy.hammond_at_avt.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2001 08:20:26 -0700
Message-ID: <F001.00340028.20010703074613@fatcity.com>

Most likely because no-one (at least, I hope not) connects their Oracle server directly to the Internet without a firewall in between, so Oracle servers aren't exposed to hacking attempts. Also, hackers can easily get hold of Linux, and use it to find holes in open-source programs like sendmail and bind (two CERT favorites) but there are fewer copies of Oracle available to non-specialists (altho' this is changing) to experiment with, and no source code "in the wild". Oracle doesn't need to run as root. There's not (as far as I know) a way to make Oracle buffer-overflow and give control of the stack to arbitrary code (this is a typical sendmail/bind exploit). There are probably more (and better) reasons, but I think that would explain it.

Cheers,

-----Original Message-----

Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2001 2:51 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L

Why is Oracle listed so infrequently in the CERT advisories?

Just wondering, since Oracle security patches appear to be available from
Oracle...

Regards,
Patrice Boivin
Systems Analyst (Oracle Certified DBA)

Systems Admin & Operations | Admin. et Exploit. des systèmes
Technology Services        | Services technologiques
Informatics Branch         | Direction de l'informatique 
Maritimes Region, DFO      | Région des Maritimes, MPO

E-Mail: boivinp_at_mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca <mailto:boivinp_at_mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca>
--

Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
--

Author: Guy Hammond
INET: guy.hammond_at_avt.co.uk

Fat City Network Services    -- (858) 538-5051  FAX: (858) 538-5051
San Diego, California        -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists


--------------------------------------------------------------------

To REMOVE yourself from this mailing list, send an E-Mail message

to: ListGuru_at_fatcity.com (note EXACT spelling of 'ListGuru') and in the message BODY, include a line containing: UNSUB ORACLE-L (or the name of mailing list you want to be removed from). You may also send the HELP command for other information (like subscribing). Received on Tue Jul 03 2001 - 10:20:26 CDT