MDKSA-2003:016 - Updated util-linux packages provide stronger randomness in mcoo
by Nikola Strahija on February 14th, 2003 The util-linux package provides the mcookie utility, a tool for generating random cookies that can be used for X authentication.This patch has been removed in these updates, giving mcookie a better source of entropy and making the generated cookies less predictable. Thanks to Dirk Mueller for pointing this out.
Package name: util-linux
Advisory ID: MDKSA-2003:016
Date: February 13th, 2003
Affected versions: 8.2, 9.0
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Problem Description:
The util-linux package provides the mcookie utility, a tool for
generating random cookies that can be used for X authentication. The
util-linux packages that were distributed with Mandrake Linux 8.2 and
9.0 had a patch that made it use /dev/urandom instead of /dev/random,
which resulted in the mcookie being more predictable than it would
otherwise be. This patch has been removed in these updates, giving
mcookie a better source of entropy and making the generated cookies
less predictable. Thanks to Dirk Mueller for pointing this out.
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References:
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Updated Packages:
Mandrake Linux 8.2:
42ff78fc528a12c85074b9930e5dca40 8.2/RPMS/losetup-2.11n-4.4mdk.i586.rpm
95d6fa4f6657799dc47eaeb5cb77cafc 8.2/RPMS/mount-2.11n-4.4mdk.i586.rpm
1a0cd7a36dc16fc6229812669d2bfc87 8.2/RPMS/util-linux-2.11n-4.4mdk.i586.rpm
6bf632bf623ec261d96b63fb267bd4e9 8.2/SRPMS/util-linux-2.11n-4.4mdk.src.rpm
Mandrake Linux 8.2/PPC:
a63c201ccb44b3db876e8b730644a449 ppc/8.2/RPMS/losetup-2.11n-4.4mdk.ppc.rpm
59bce5df786546785a8425006749d0f0 ppc/8.2/RPMS/mount-2.11n-4.4mdk.ppc.rpm
27591222bc4498183f48fa11f1edbbf3 ppc/8.2/RPMS/util-linux-2.11n-4.4mdk.ppc.rpm
6bf632bf623ec261d96b63fb267bd4e9 ppc/8.2/SRPMS/util-linux-2.11n-4.4mdk.src.rpm
Mandrake Linux 9.0:
09586a3e81b2212b8044445fc4559fc5 9.0/RPMS/losetup-2.11u-1.1mdk.i586.rpm
be9751b84f20ec4bc1ced03c4004dcb4 9.0/RPMS/mount-2.11u-1.1mdk.i586.rpm
613661ae3c324580e653330814f74756 9.0/RPMS/util-linux-2.11u-1.1mdk.i586.rpm
757145e95a3a990f0c95589cd0324a71 9.0/SRPMS/util-linux-2.11u-1.1mdk.src.rpm
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Bug IDs fixed (see https://qa.mandrakesoft.com for more information):
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