Ubuntu Password Bug Fixed in a Few Hours

Published
by
Dawn
on March 12, 2006
in Uncategorized
.

A critical bug exposing the root (administrator) password on Ubuntu systems was found and then fixed within a few hours. Open source communities tend to respond more quickly than proprietary companies; however, this response was truly amazing. The quick response shows how open source communities can take action to fix issues and support their users.

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2 Responses to “Ubuntu Password Bug Fixed in a Few Hours”

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  1. 1 Lisa
    March 14, 2006 at 12:49 pm

    Greetings!

    I agree with you that the response time was commendable, typical of the open source community, and certainly superior to any company I can think of. But one nagging question troubles me at the back of my mind:

    This release came out in October ‘05. How long have the black hats been quietly harvesting root passwords from production servers with sensitive data, before this problem became public knowledge?

    Please don’t get me wrong; I’m using Linux as I post this. I would equally (well ok, probably more so, LOL) slam Microsoft for a snafu of this magnitude. I’m a huge proponent of open source and software freedom. But I’ve become wary of K/Ubuntu specifically, because this is not the first big problem I’ve seen with 5.10. I worry that they are starting to get sloppy.

    On other subjects… it’s always a joy to run across other women out there who are into technology, and open source specifically. I’m still reading, but am already getting a wealth of great info from your blog. Thank you for taking the time to put it all together.

    Cheers!

    Lisa
    Hardcore technology fanatic, LinuxChix member, and happy vegan. :)

  2. 2 GeekyGirl Dawn Foster
    March 14, 2006 at 6:51 pm

    Thanks for the comments, and I am happy that you are enjoying my blog. It is great to meet another female open source advocate (especially a vegan!)

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