john eayrs wrote:
> Hi All
>
> Just received this from Zdnet
>
> "A new worm is being distributed within malicious OpenOffice documents. The
> worm can infect Windows, Linux and Mac OS X systems," according to a
> Symantec Security Response advisory. "Be cautious when handling OpenOffice
> files from unknown sources."
The sanest comment I've seen so far was in Talkback on news.com.com
"Blatent scaremonger
Reader post by: GRMorgan
Posted on: June 11, 2007, 8:33 AM PDT
Story: OpenOffice worm Badbunny hops across operating systems
So the macro virus drops a few scripts on a Linux box. Of course the
article fails to mention that *all* scripts of Linux must be initialised
as executable by the root account before they can be executed generally.
This already makes the Perl 'virus' totally ineffective unless the user
has administrative access (not common on Linux, our applications are
designed properly) and actively searches out and gives this script
execution privileges.
The python based X-Chat script can do more 'damage' since X-Chat will
execute it directly. However it will still be limited by the standard
defence mechanisms of the system and by X-Chat's own APIs.
The article fails to understand a basic fact about Linux. We don't
believe it to be invulnerable. We know that viruses and other malware
would be restricted by the standard defensive mechanisms of the system.
No Linux system is a free for all like Windows, sane separation of
privileges is the order of the day. This goes further with most
corporate Linux solutions now defaulting to the use of strict mandatory
access control defences like SELinux (which was designed by the NSA to
be their standard form of security).
Also most Linux distributions will deactivate OOo macros by default."
<
http://news.com.com/5208-7349_3-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=28127&messageID=276962&start=0>
>
> for further details see
>
> http://ct.zdnet.com/clicks?t=38858308-826444b230c390523a0f69d700f06db2-bf&s=
> 5&fs=0
>
> John Eayrs
>
--
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