1 |
Claes Gyllenswärd posted on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 17:09:44 +0100 as excerpted: |
2 |
|
3 |
> I haven't kept strictly up to date, but it's my understanding that since |
4 |
> then a new 64bit version has been released. And some new security |
5 |
> problems, it's flash after all, and two more releases I think. So |
6 |
> there's a "proper" 64-bit version out, if you consider flash/binary |
7 |
> proper. |
8 |
|
9 |
Yes. AFAIK, there's another 64-bit flash beta out. |
10 |
|
11 |
But meanwhile, there's a problem with beta glibc and flash (both 32-bit |
12 |
and 64-bit), where flash is depending on officially "undefined" behavior |
13 |
as if it was behind, and the new (still unreleased upstream) glibc changes |
14 |
the officially undefined behavior, breaking flash. |
15 |
|
16 |
But the behavior has been undefined for years and years (tho until now the |
17 |
actual glibc behavior had happened to remain the same), valgrind and other |
18 |
memory analysis tools have been warning about it for years and years, and |
19 |
flash was never fixed. So now we know that either it had so many warnings |
20 |
they couldn't care about this one, or they never ran it thru such checkers |
21 |
in the first place, a rather serious problem for something as security |
22 |
exposed as flash obviously is, on millions of machines out there. |
23 |
|
24 |
That would seem to go some way to explaining all the security holes it has |
25 |
had recently -- they apparently never ran it thru memory analysis tools |
26 |
designed to catch such problems. <shrug> |
27 |
|
28 |
Obviously, my take is a bit biased, but yet another reason I'm glad I |
29 |
don't do that servantware. Even when/if the situation is fixed, that |
30 |
won't change the fact that flash is now known NOT to use regular security |
31 |
analysis tools to help them find and plug such problems before they |
32 |
release, so who knows how many more security issues wait to be found? |
33 |
|
34 |
> On a related note, the alternative flash player lightspark has reached a |
35 |
> "actually useful for youtube some of the time" status, and the current |
36 |
> RC is supposed to improve this. Help me flattr the guys lightspark blog |
37 |
> posts and you can soon ditch another binary package. :D |
38 |
|
39 |
FWIW, I do have gnash installed, tho I've not tried lightspark, but don't |
40 |
use it all /that/ much, as I use the downloader for youtube, and on most |
41 |
(but not all) other sites, flash is mostly ads, anyway. Rather, I tend to |
42 |
pick another site if I need to. Sometimes manufacturers lose my buying |
43 |
dollars as a result because I can't see what they're product specs are due |
44 |
to flash, but oh, well... |
45 |
|
46 |
-- |
47 |
Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. |
48 |
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- |
49 |
and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman |