Re: [VulnWatch] Details of Sybase ASE bugs withheld

["David Litchfield" <davidl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey Halvar,
> am I understanding this correctly ? Sybase is threatening "something"
> so that the technical details of the vulnerability are kept secret
> indefinitely ?

Yes - you understand correctly. Needless to say I hope all of this can be 
resolved amicably; and the details will be published.

> This is a rather curious development. Are the pre/post patch versions
> freely downloadable ?

To be honest, I don't know, but if the patch is freely downloadable, let's 
face it, the "details" are there to anyone with a disassembler, anyway. This 
kind of legal threat achieves nothing other than to make legit researchers 
fearful about being sued if they find and publish security issues - even if 
they do so in a responsible manner. In such a climate security research will 
be driven underground - which is where the "good guys" really don't want it 
to be.


Cheers,
David Litchfield
Research Scientist
NGSSoftware Ltd
http://www.ngssoftware.com/