Current events
From Tulsa Linux Users Group
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[edit] Ubuntu 9.10
The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop and Server editions, Ubuntu 9.10 Server for Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC) and Amazon's EC2, and Ubuntu Netbook Remix, continuing Ubuntu's tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution.
Read more about the features of Ubuntu 9.10 in the following press releases:
Desktop edition http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu-910 Server edition http://www.ubuntu.com/news/ubuntu-910-server-edition
Ubuntu 9.10 is also the basis for new 9.10 releases of Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, UbuntuStudio, and Mythbuntu:
Kubuntu http://kubuntu.org/news/9.10-release Xubuntu http://xubuntu.org/news/9.10-release Edubuntu http://edubuntu.org/news/9.10-release Mythbuntu http://mythbuntu.org/9.10/release Ubuntu Studio https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuStudio/9.10release_notes
To download Ubuntu 9.10, or obtain CDs, visit:
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu
Users of Ubuntu 9.04 will be offered an automatic upgrade to 9.10 viaUpdate Manager. For further information about upgrading, see:
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/upgrading
[edit] NMap 5.0
1. The new Ncat tool aims to be your Swiss Army Knife for data transfer, redirection, and debugging. We released a whole users' guide detailing security testing and network administration tasks made easy with Ncat.
2. The addition of the Ndiff scan comparison tool completes Nmap's growth into a whole suite of applications which work together to serve network administrators and security practitioners. Ndiff makes it easy to automatically scan your network daily and report on any changes (systems coming up or going down or changes to the software services they are running). The other two tools now packaged with Nmap itself are Ncat and the much improved Zenmap GUI and results viewer.
3. Nmap performance has improved dramatically. We spent last summer scanning much of the Internet and merging that data with internal enterprise scan logs to determine the most commonly open ports. This allows Nmap to scan fewer ports by default while finding more open ports. We also added a fixed-rate scan engine so you can bypass Nmap's congestion control algorithms and scan at exactly the rate (packets per second) you specify.
4. We released Nmap Network Scanning, the official Nmap guide to network discovery and security scanning. From explaining port scanning basics for novices to detailing low-level packet crafting methods used by advanced hackers, this book suits all levels of security and networking professionals. A 42-page reference guide documents every Nmap feature and option, while the rest of the book demonstrates how to apply those features to quickly solve real-world tasks. More than half the book is available in the free online edition.
5. The Nmap Scripting Engine (NSE) is one of Nmap's most powerful and flexible features. It allows users to write (and share) simple scripts to automate a wide variety of networking tasks. Those scripts are then executed in parallel with the speed and efficiency you expect from Nmap. All existing scripts have been improved, and 32 new ones added. New scripts include a whole bunch of MSRPC/NetBIOS attacks, queries, and vulnerability probes; open proxy detection; whois and AS number lookup queries; brute force attack scripts against the SNMP and POP3 protocols; and many more. All NSE scripts and modules are described in the new NSE documentation portal.
[edit] NMap Scripting Engine
The Nmap Changelog describes nearly 600 significant improvements since the last major release (4.50). Some of my favorite additions have happened here.
The Nmap Scripting Engine (NSE) is one of Nmap's most powerful and flexible features. It allows users to write (and share) simple scripts to automate a wide variety of networking tasks. Those scripts are then executed in parallel with the speed and efficiency you expect from Nmap. It existed in Nmap 4.50, but has been dramatically improved:
- Every script has been improved, and the number of scripts has grown nearly 50% to 59.
- Ron Bowes embarked on a massive MSRPC/NETBIOS project to allow Nmap to interrogate Windows machines much more completely.
He added six NSE libraries (msrpc, msrpcperformance, msrpctypes, netbios, smb, and smbauth) and 14 scripts (p2p-conficker, smb-brute, smb-check-vulns, smb-enum-domains, smb-enum-processes, smb-enum-sessions, smb-enum-shares, smb-enum-users, smb-os-discovery, smb-pwdump, smb-security-mode, smb-server-stats, and smb-system-info). He also wrote a detailed paper on the new scripts.
- Nmap was one of the first scanners to remotely detect the Conficker worm thanks to smb-check-vulns, and p2p-conficker.
- Other new scripts include:
asn-query—Maps IP addresses to autonomous system (AS) numbers.
auth-spoof—Checks for an identd (auth) server which is spoofing its replies.
banner—A simple banner grabber which connects to an open TCP port and prints out anything sent by the listening service within five seconds.
dns-random-srcport—Checks a DNS server for the predictable-port recursion vulnerability. Predictable source ports can make a DNS server vulnerable to cache poisoning attacks (see CVE-2008-1447).
dns-random-txid—Checks a DNS server for the predictable-TXID DNS recursion vulnerability. Predictable TXID values can make a DNS server vulnerable to cache poisoning attacks (see CVE-2008-1447).
ftp-bounce—Checks to see if an FTP server allows port scanning using the FTP bounce method.
http-iis-webdav-vuln—Checks for a vulnerability in IIS 5.1/6.0 that allows arbitrary users to access secured WebDAV folders by searching for a password-protected folder and attempting to access it. This vulnerability was patched in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-020.
http-passwd—Checks if a web server is vulnerable to directory traversal by attempting to retrieve /etc/passwd using various traversal methods such as requesting ../../../../etc/passwd.
imap-capabilities—Retrieves IMAP email server capabilities.
mysql-info—Connects to a MySQL server and prints information such as the protocol and version numbers, thread ID, status, capabilities, and the password salt.
pop3-brute—Tries to log into a POP3 account by guessing usernames and passwords.
pop3-capabilities—Retrieves POP3 email server capabilities.
rpcinfo—Connects to portmapper and fetches a list of all registered programs.
snmp-brute—Attempts to find an SNMP community string by brute force guessing.
socks-open-proxy—Checks if an open socks proxy is running on the target.
upnp-info—Attempts to extract system information from the UPnP service.
whois—Queries the WHOIS services of Regional Internet Registries (RIR) and attempts to retrieve information about the IP Address Assignment which contains the Target IP Address.
[edit] New Nvidia Video Drivers for Linux
Last evening, April 21st, Nvidia announced yet another maintenance version of their proprietary video driver for the Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris open-source operating systems. The new version, Nvidia 180.51, provides support for many new GPUs, such as: GeForce GT 130, GeForce GT 140, GeForce GTS 250, GeForce 9400 GT and GeForce 9600 GSO 512. Moreover, Nvidia 180.51 fixes several issues found in previous versions, such as:
· Repaired an issue that crashed the X server when viewing the www.tim.it website; · Repaired some power management resume/suspend issues with DisplayPort; · Repaired a VDPAU issue that caused inaccurate decoding of H.264 video streams on G86, G84, G94, G92, G96 and GT200 cards; · Repaired an issue with the VGA fonts. The fonts could not be saved or restored on GeForce 8 and newer cards; · Repaired an issue that caused inaccurate moving of windows running OpenGL applications on GeForce 8 and newer cards; · Repaired various performance issues with the memory management, especially when running a composite manager; · Repaired various hangs or crashes on GeForce 9 and newer cards; · Repaired a rendering issue in OpenGL 16-bit RGB Workstation Overlay; · Repaired a dual-monitor issue that failed to detect the secondary device when the X server was started after a cold boot; · Updated nvidia-bug-report.sh to output archived logs.
How to install the Nvidia video drivers on your Linux box?
Log out of your current session and hit the CTRL+ALT+F1 key combination in order to enter a text-mode session. Log in as root (System Administrator), go to the folder where you've downloaded the Nvidia driver installer for your architecture (see below for links), and type the following corresponding command.
For 32-bit users:
sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-180.51-pkg1.run
For 64-bit users:
sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-180.51-pkg2.run
Then, follow the on-screen instructions to install the Nvidia video driver. Please note that the Linux kernel headers and a GCC compiler will be required to complete the installation.
Download the Nvidia Linux display driver 180.51 for the x86 architecture
Download the Nvidia Linux display driver 180.51 for the AMD64/EM64T architectures
[edit] Ubuntu 9.04
The Ubuntu team is happy to bring you the latest and greatest software the Open Source community has to offer. This is their latest result, the Ubuntu 9.04 release, which brings a host of excellent new features: Gnome 2.26 X Org server 1.6 Wacom tablet hotplugging increase in boot performance Linux kernel 2.6.28 Ext4 filesystem support
If you are upgrading from Ubuntu 8.10, we have easy-to-follow upgrade instructions
Download Ubuntu 9.04 http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
Ubuntu 9.04 BitTorrent http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors#bt
[edit] Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 updated
The Debian project is pleased to announce the first update of its stable distribution Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 (codename lenny). This update mainly adds corrections for security problems to the stable release, along with a few adjustment to serious problems.
Please note that this update does not constitute a new version of Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 but only updates some of the packages included. There is no need to throw away 5.0 CDs or DVDs but only to update via an up-to-date Debian mirror after an installation, to cause any out of date packages to be updated.
Those who frequently install updates from security.debian.org won't have to update many packages and most updates from security.debian.org are included in this update.
New CD and DVD images containing updated packages and the regular installation media accompanied with the package archive respectively will be available soon at the regular locations.
Upgrading to this revision online is usually done by pointing the aptitude (or apt) package tool (see the sources.list(5) manual page) to one of Debian's many FTP or HTTP mirrors. A comprehensive list of mirrors is available here.
For official Debian 5.0.1 installation media and information, see the Lenny page.
Debian installation how-to.
[edit] Fedora 10 Re-Spin
Fedora 10 Re-Spin is based upon Fedora 10 and includes all updates released as of February 10th, 2009.
The Re-Spin task has been taken up by Fedora Unity to provide the Community with the chance to install Fedora Core with recent updates, which might otherwise be several hundred megabytes of downloads, already included.
The Fedora Unity Project intends to release early and release often, with new Re-Spins provided early each month during the life of each Fedora Core release until that release is transferred to Fedora Legacy. Early snapshots will be taken mid-month to start testing. Final snapshots will be taken about a week before the release. All released ISO images are tested using a 15-point test matrix to ensure the quality that the Fedora community expects.
