There is an old saying that the only safe computer is one that's disconnected from the network, turned off, and locked in an underground bunkerand even then you can't be sure! Keeping your computer up-to-date with the latest security patches is essential if you want to keep yourself safe from the latest threats and exploits.
Ubuntu Update Policy
When each version of Ubuntu is released, all packages within it are considered "frozen." No new versions of software contained in that release are added to it, so when you install Ubuntu Dapper Drake, the versions of all the software available within that release will remain the same indefinitely. New versions of individual packages are not added because that would make the release a moving target rather than a predictable environmentand might even introduce new bugs and security vulnerabilities.
Of course, software itself doesn't stand still; new versions are always coming out, and sometimes an existing vulnerability is found and fixed by a new release. That means older versions of the software may still be vulnerable, but Ubuntu policy dictates that new versions of software are not shoe-horned into an already released distribution.
This impasse is resolved by back-porting security fixes to the version of the software that was included with the distribution at the time of release and then releasing a "security update" package for just that particular piece of software. System administrators can then install the security update, safe in the knowledge that they are fixing only a specific security problem and not changing the fundamental way the system operates.
Obtain Security Updates
Security updates are distributed from special package repositories, so check your /etc/apt/sources.list to make sure you have entries that match your main package sources, like this:deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper-security main restricted
If not, see "Modify the List of Package Repositories" [Hack #60] to learn how to enable security sources, but note that there are no security updates available for the universe and multiverse sources because they are not officially supported by the Ubuntu security team.
Automate Update Notifications
The Ubuntu desktop comes with a panel applet called update-notifier that pops up an alert if any new packages have been released since your machine was last updated, but if you are running a headless server, you can set up a trivial script to notify you via email directly from the server.
Place the following in /etc/cron.daily/notify-updates:#!/bin/sh
apt-get -qq update
apt-get -qq --simulate dist-upgrade
Then make it executible:$ sudo chmod +x /etc/cron.daily/notify-updates
The -qq flags tell apt-get to run in "really quiet" mode so it produces no output unless it really needs to, so apt-get -qq update causes it to silently fetch the latest list of packages from the package servers. The --simulate flag causes the dist-upgrade to be done in a dry-run mode that pretends to upgrade all available packages without really doing it, and if there are no packages available for upgrade, it will also complete silently.
Because this script is being called by cron, it will be triggered every day, and if it produces no output, cron will just silently move on. However, if there are packages available for upgrade, the dist-upgrade command will generate output listing all packages that can be upgraded, and cron will email the output to the system administrator, who can then decide whether to apply the updates manually.
If cron does not send email to the right person, you may need to edit /etc/crontab and put in an entry near the top similar to:MAILTO=user@example.com
Package Signatures
Packages distributed through the official Ubuntu archives are cryptographically signed so that you can verify that the packages haven't been tampered with or forged using a man-in-the-middle attack. The official archive keys are included in the ubuntu-keyring package and installed in /etc/apt/trusted.gpg by default as part of Dapper. You can use the apt-keys tool to verify and manage the keys that are trusted by your system when new packages are installed:jon@jbook:~$ sudo apt-key list
/etc/apt/trusted.gpg
--------------------
pub 1024D/437D05B5 2004-09-12
uid Ubuntu Archive Automatic Signing Key
sub 2048g/79164387 2004-09-12
pub 1024D/FBB75451 2004-12-30
uid Ubuntu CD Image Automatic Signing Key
If you attempt to install any packages that originated in archives that aren't verified by one of those trusted keys, apt will complain but allow you to proceed anyway if you choose:WARNING: The following packages cannot be authenticated!
myprogram lib-blah lib-foo
Install these packages without verification [y/N]?
Monitor Security Advisories
One of the most important sources of up-to-the-minute information on threats and vulnerabilities is CERT, the Computer Emergency Response Team, run by the Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute. The CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) acts as a global clearing-house for advisories relating to computer security, and even makes its advisories available as RSS and Atom news feeds so you can stay on top of the latest problems as they come to light.
However, the CERT advisory listing can be overwhelming because it includes notifications for all operating systems and software packages. A much more concise list of advisories that relate directly to Ubuntu is available online at http://www.ubuntu.com/usn, along with links to the Ubuntu Security Announcements mailing list and list archives.
If you believe you have found an unreported vulnerability in an Ubuntu package, you can contact the Ubuntu security team via email at security@ubuntu.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment