OS Bug Project Presents Security Wake-Up Call

Last week, security researcher HD Moore, co-creator of the Metasploit Framework penetration testing tool, began posting one kernel bug each day. In July, Moore ran a similar crusade, dubbed "Month of Browser Bugs" that released more than a score of new browser vulnerabilities, including some for Internet Explorer that were later patched by Microsoft.

According to Symantec, Moore's "Month of Kernel Bugs" has not yet put forward any major flaws. "Cursory analysis of these issues leads [us] to believe that the immediate threat posed by the issues disclosed so far is not high," Symantec wrote in an alert to customers of its DeepSight threat network.

So far, Moore and others have posted six vulnerabilities. One affects Apple Computer Inc.'s Mac OS X, one involves Microsoft Corp.'s Windows, one impacts the open-source FreeBDS operating system, one affects Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Solaris 10, and two are in the Linux 2.6 kernel.

Although Symantec took a wait-and-see position, research firm Gartner said that the danger level was higher.

"[This] is a serious wake-up call about the vulnerability of the most fundamental element of the operating system," said analyst Rich Mogull in a research note posted online. "Begin preparing now for more, and more damaging, attacks against the OS kernel."

The kernel, which is the core of the operating system where the most trusted code runs, may be technically challenging to attack, but once successful, a breach effectively hijacks the computer. Worse, the ongoing development of easy-to-use kernel exploit tools, notably Metasploit's work to add such attacks to its software, means users should expect more kernel-level attacks in the future.

"The incorporation of kernel exploits is a very early indication that the complex exploitation of kernel flaws will be simplified," added Mogull.