Monday, August 31, 2009

Old OS X Kernel Bug in Recently Fixed

 Hi people of the world,
I'm going to talk today about a "bug". The bug, actually is a kernel vulnerability, get patched after more than 4 years. It is said that the bug is simple yet dangerous. The bug has been exploited in June 2008.


The bug can be triggered using tweet-sized code:


#include 
#include 

int main()
{
        fcntl(0, TIOCGWINSZ, 0);
        return 0;
}

This tiny code can cause panic to the kernel of your OS X and can cause a heart attack to Mac users :) (joke but kernel panic is real)
So, Mac users should update to the latest OS X kernel which is 10.5.8 to have a panic-free kernel.


Put the article aside and see the apple above. Did you see it?
This was my drawing for this article. Instead of drawing a bug, I have drawn a worm. I don't know why but please people of the world, consider it as a bug. I hope you like it and I hope that you don't find it so silly, ugly colored and so ... oh I shouldn't say that.

Enjoy your day and
Take care people of the world

References:
http://butnotyet.tumblr.com/post/175132533/the-story-of-a-simple-and-dangerous-kernel-bug
http://developers.slashdot.org/story/09/08/30/0424248/The-Story-of-a-Simple-and-Dangerous-OS-X-Kernel-Bug?from=rss
http://nipez.files.wordpress.com/2006/08/Apple%20logo.JPG-thumb_273_2053.jpg
http://wakaba.c3.cx/sup/src/1131061133777.png

6 comments:

Seema* said...

I never cared if there is a new virus, bug, worm or whatever.
the worse could happen is losing all the information i have in the computer and format it.
i always have a backup el-7md lellah therefore it's not a big deal to me ;P

Why do you care?

Unknown said...

Dear Seema:
I care because:
Viruses: can harm your hardware.
worms: can send your sensitive information over the networks.
But you have a point, when someone don't have sensitive info or activity on his computer, he shouldn't worry about Trojans though that's not the case these days. Today, we use amazon, ebay, bank services and recharge our eezee lines :) online
So we really need security.

It's nice to see someone doing backup. Recently, all my computer activities are in the cloud so I don't have to backup. Last thing, between me and you, ((I don't like Mr.Format))..... :)

Thanx for the comment

Seema* said...

Mr.format is such a great person, you should give him another chance ; )

I couldn't agree more about our necessity to security but as you can see there are new viruses every single day. I think the person must be updated with the latest unti-virus programs yet shouldn't worry much about them.

:)

Unknown said...

Seeing Mr.Format when I encounter problems in my computer annoys me. But I am giving him a chance ;p

I agree with you about Anti-virus stuff

thanx

Hashimoto said...

No Spelling\Grammar Errors in this one
=)
lol !

Unknown said...

Horraaaaaaay
No mistakes. Then let's drink.
Ops.... We are fasting. Then let's do it after Maghreb.