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| Written by Jason of Enterprise Linux | |||
| Wednesday, 06 April 2005 09:16 | |||
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The recently discovered security issues in Mozilla Foundationââ¬â¢s Firefox Web browser should not be seen as a problem but rather as an opportunity to show the system works, according to open source advocates. A controversy erupted this week over Firefox security based on a report from the Danish security firm Secunia, which said an error in Firefox could allow hackers to gain sensitive information.
While some software experts question Mozillaââ¬â¢s ability to patch up vulnerabilities in a timely way, others say the whole point of having an open source community is to address problems without having to have developers reside under a single roof. So far, open source software, such as Linux and Firefox, have been marred with fewer hacking episodes, but security professionals point to the fact that open source products are not prominent targets of attack -- yet. Turn Off The Firefox vulnerability appears to have been reported last Friday. According to Mozillaââ¬â¢s Bugzilla Web page, it was resolved, although Secunia issued two advisories Tuesday for the Firefox and Mozilla Web browsers. Secuniaââ¬â¢s report says the vulnerability is due to an error in the JavaScript engine that could be used to expose sensitive information. Secunia recommends that users turn off JavaScript support until a patch is distributed. The company provides a test on its Web site for users of the browsers to discern whether the vulnerability affects them. Open Swarm Mozilla says it is currently working on an update to its earlier fix. The organization says the vulnerability has not been exploited on the Web. A hacker would have to lure someone to a shady site to successfully exploit the fault. Mozilla also says the threat is not present in Thunderbird, because the application does not run scripts in e-mail. The publicity surrounding the JavaScript flaw shows ââ¬Åthe open source system is working,ââ¬? said Greg Minchak, director of external affairs and an analyst with the Open Source Industry Alliance. ââ¬ÅUnlike some software companies that sit on vulnerabilities until they get around to them, the open source community swarms to a problem the moment itââ¬â¢s made known,ââ¬? he pointed out. Some industry experts have suggested that Mozilla lacks the resources to fix bugs in a timely way, but Minchak disagrees. ââ¬ÅMany of the software engineers who work on Firefox and other open source projects are paid employees of companies that want open source software to succeed.ââ¬?
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