The latest top 10 Linux/Unix security holes

• Tags:
• Top 10 Security Holes,
• Vulnerabilities,
• Flaw,
• Unix

John McCormick

Published: 04 Nov 2003 12:10 GMT

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7. Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

Since SNMP is often enabled by default, it's one of those services that must be maintained if you can't disable it. The SANS Institute offers a free SNMP scanning tool. Just send a blank email to snmptool@sans.org to get more information.

8. Secure Shell (SSH)

SSH is an important security tool, but many installations of it aren't being properly maintained or configured.

9. Misconfiguration of Enterprise Services NIS/NFS

The main threat here is probably the fact that this is often enabled by default, whether it is needed or not, and is, therefore, rarely maintained effectively.

10. Open Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

There are a lot of holes in older OpenSSL libraries and, because it is often used by other services such as Apache or even Sendmail, it may not be maintained properly.

Final word
The newest Top 20 vulnerabilities list isn't really much different from the earlier SANS/FBI vulnerability lists, but that makes it all the more important that every administrator look it over carefully. These are the holes that hackers know they can exploit, and far too many systems remain vulnerable to them even after years of warnings.

If you're going to devote energy to fixing vulnerabilities, you should probably start with these first. Every administrator is swamped with new threat announcements and new patches, but taking the time to fix these commonly-exploited flaws will pay off. Of course, not all of these vulnerabilities can be fixed with a simple patch, but there are steps administrators can take to reduce the impact of even those basic soft spots in operating systems and applications that are inherent in the very structure of the software.

Once again, the top lesson to be learned from this list is probably the need to know what services are running on your system and disable any that aren't really needed.

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