Samba security flaw gets patch

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer

Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.

Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials

Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.

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Stephen Shankland

Dec. 9, 2002 4:24 a.m. PT

Open-source programmers have released a patch to a major vulnerability in the Samba software. Samba is widely used to let computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system tap into files on Linux machines, and vice versa. The problem, which affects versions 2.2.2 through 2.2.6 but is fixed in 2.2.7, could let an attacker gain control over a computer system.

Major editions of Linux--including Red Hat, SuSE, MandrakeSoft, Debian, Turbolinux and Conectiva--all have links to their patches posted at the Mitre list.