Security Alert

[Hurf Sheldon <]

Forwarded to cslug-l <> from netadmin-l
h
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A recently released security announcement affects Debian and Debian-derived 
systems (Ubuntu, Knoppix, etc). The primary risk posed by this 
vulnerability is to SSH host keys, though SSL and OpenVPN keys are also 
at-risk.

We have seen a significant increase in scanning for vulnerable systems, and 
several exploits are now publicly available.

Anyone running Debian or one of its derivatives is urged to patch and 
regenerate SSH/SSL/VPN keys as necessary.  For more information:

<http://www.debian.org/security/2008/dsa-1576>

Starting tomorrow (Friday, 16 May) we will be scanning campus for 
vulnerable SSH instances.  This scanning takes the form of a single SSH 
connection from either secutil1.cit.cornell.edu or 
secutil2.cit.cornell.edu.  This will allow us to compare the signature of 
the host key in use to a published list of weak keys.  Where applicable, 
netadmins will be notified of vulnerable systems.

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Reply-to: 
         Network Operations Center
         Cornell University
         Ithaca, NY 14853
         607-255-9900
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