Linked by snydeq on Tue 7th Oct 2008 17:04 UTC
Windows InfoWorld pays tribute to the humble Windows bug -- ground zero for several of the most colossal security meltdowns IT has ever endured. From share-level password flaws, to Web server traversal vulnerabilities, to overflow after overflow, the past decade of Windows flaws and patches and exploits has given IT one hot cup of hell after another -- all while giving rise to entire industries built around protecting users from malware authors who themselves have matured their practices to juvenile pranks to moneymaking criminal enterprises. Microsoft has been noted as the fastest vendor to patch OS flaws, to be sure, but the hits keep on coming. Perhaps it is high time for another OS vulnerability scorecard.
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RE: My Favorite
by zlynx on Wed 8th Oct 2008 03:46 UTC in reply to "My Favorite"
zlynx
Member since:
2005-07-20

I believe that was a 32-bit timer count rollover bug, just like the one Linux 2.4 had for a while, except that Linux used a slower count and therefore lasted 400+ days.

That bug is the reason that the Linux 2.6 kernel now initializes the jiffies count to -5 minutes, forcing a rollover in order to catch that bug.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 6

RE[2]: My Favorite
by fsckit on Wed 8th Oct 2008 16:14 in reply to "RE: My Favorite"
fsckit Member since:
2006-09-24

Same sort of bug, but vastly different effect. Those Linux systems just stopped recording uptime at 400+ days. Win98 basically ate itself and had to be rebooted.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 4

RE[3]: My Favorite
by zlynx on Wed 8th Oct 2008 16:31 in reply to "RE[2]: My Favorite"
zlynx Member since:
2005-07-20

Actually it depended on which version of Linux 2.4 and what drivers were running. Many things didn't handle rollover well and if your SCSI controller decided command reset timeout was now 390 days in the future, the system may as well have been locked up.

At any rate, my original point (that I forgot to write out) was that the Windows bug wasn't a memory corruption bug, but this timer bug.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 3