[9fans] pathetic

[ron minnich <rminnich@lanl.gov>]

this is a new "innovation" that is being shown at
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994696

" Until now, Intel-compatible processors have not been able to distinguish
between sections of memory that contain data and those that contain
program instructions. This has allowed hackers to insert malicious program
instructions in sections of memory that are supposed to contain data only,
and use buffer overflow to overwrite the "pointer" data that tells the
processor which instruction to execute next. Hackers use this to force the
computer to start executing their own code (see graphic).

The new AMD chips prevent this. They separate memory into instruction-only
and data-only sections. If hackers attempt to execute code from the data
section of memory, they will fail. Windows will then detect the attempt
and close the application.

"Buffer overflows are the largest class of software vulnerabilities that
lead to security flaws," says Crispin Cowan, of computer security company
Immunix in Portland, Oregon.
"


golly. seperate I&D space. Which is an idea that is only about 40 or so
years old (Burroughs 5500 ... or am I late even with that).

Actually I'm puzzled anyway as the segment descriptors on x86 have code
and data bits. I'd be willing to be the real issue is that XP uses the
moral equivalent of self-modifying-code, and that now that XP is being
cleaned up they can actually use those bits. But I'm guessing.

I really love the PC world. The only reason they have not claimed
invention of the wheel is that they don't need it yet.


ron