Security: OpenVPN, Intel Nightmare, Looking Back at WannaCry

• OpenVPN taken to task after audit ignores remote code execution flaws

  A researcher has revealed four dangerous bugs, among others, in OpenVPN which two recent audits of the virtual private network's code failed to find. According to security expert Guido Vranken, he independently used a fuzzer to cut through OpenVPN's code to find the bugs. The first vulnerability, CVE-2017-7521, is a set of issues found in the extract_x509_extension, in which attackers can create a remote server crash and memory leaks.

• Debian Warns Of Hyper Threading Issue With Intel Sky/Kaby Lake CPUs

• [WARNING] Intel Skylake/Kaby Lake processors: broken hyper-threading

  This warning advisory is relevant for users of systems with the Intel processors code-named "Skylake" and "Kaby Lake". These are: the 6th and 7th generation Intel Core processors (desktop, embedded, mobile and HEDT), their related server processors (such as Xeon v5 and Xeon v6), as well as select Intel Pentium processor models. TL;DR: unfixed Skylake and Kaby Lake processors could, in some situations, dangerously misbehave when hyper-threading is enabled. Disable hyper-threading immediately in BIOS/UEFI to work around the problem.

• [Older] WannaCry ransomware slipped in through slow patching [Ed: Making excuses for Microsoft]

• [Older] World braces for more cyberattacks as work week begins

  Russia's interior ministry said some of its computers had been hit, while the country's banking system was also attacked, although no problems were detected, as was the railway system.

• Two days after WCry worm, Microsoft decries exploit stockpiling by governments [Ed: This, from one month ago, is pure hogwash because leaks show that Microsoft had actively helped the stockpiling by NSA]

• Microsoft Is PISSED OFF At The NSA Over WannaCry Attack [Ed: Microsoft is a partner/supplier of the NSA, so it is not pissed off, it just pretends to be]

• Fearing Shadow Brokers leak, NSA reported critical flaw to Microsoft

• [Older] You know how to fix enterprise patching? Please tell me more!!!

KDE: KStars, Qt in Debian, KDE Plasma 5 Regional Settings Format, Krita and More GSoC Work

• The achievements during the first GSoC period in KStars

  I was able to do major improvements to the build system of KStars.

• Qt 5.7 submodules that didn't make it to Stretch but will be in testing

  There are two Qt 5.7 submodules that we could not package in time for Strech but are/will be available in their 5.7 versions in testing. This are qtdeclarative-render2d-plugin and qtvirtualkeyboard.

• KDE Plasma 5 Regional Settings Format Makes Me Happy Again

  Since my move from Windows to Linux, KDE has been my preferred desktop environment. I remember switching between Gnome and KDE for a while until I determined that KDE was for me (what I really wanted was Amiga Workbench). KDE's strength has always been its flexibility and ease of customization. I value options which is why I value KDE. The transition from KDE 3.x to KDE 4.x was somewhat painful for me as for a while, many of the options that I became used to disappeared but later returned. Through the change, I never lost my ability to adjust how I wanted information displayed to me.

• [Krita] That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for GSoC project.

• Go support in KDevelop. GSoC week 4. DU-Chain time!

• GSoC preparation - Plasma Toolicons - A journey down the rabbit hole

Today in Techrights

• As Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Ramps Up Its Campaign Against Software Patent Trolls the Patent Microcosm Attacks the Messenger (EFF)
• In Sandoz v Amgen, the Federal Circuit is Again Found to Have Delivered Patent Injustice
• The Supreme Court Can Reassert the Legitimacy of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Later This Year or Next Year
• The US Patent Office (USPTO) Should Now be Headed by Drew Hirshfeld, a Patent Examiner Who Rose to the Top, Not a Lawyer Like Joseph Matal
• After Latest Supreme Court Rulings on Patents, Including Impression v Lexmark, the Federal Circuit is Left Disgraced
• IBM, Apple and Facebook Pursue Software Patents in India in Defiance of the Ban
• Wouter Pors Under Fire for Lying or Manipulating in the Name of the Unitary Patent (UPC)
• Systemic Injustice at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Causes Serious Harm to Complainants’ Health, Including EPO Complainants
• Microsoft and Bill Gates Become More Actively Involved in Their Biggest Patent Troll (and World’s Biggest Troll), Intellectual Ventures
• The STRONGER Patents Act is One Among Several New Pushes for Patent Chaos in the United States
• SUEPO and the EPO’s Central Staff Committee Condemn Battistelli’s Latest Attempt to Change the Rules in Defiance of Laws
• Links 24/6/2017: GNOME Music Improves, FreeBSD 11.1 Beta 3

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