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Date:      Mon, 18 Nov 1996 07:15:18 -0800 (PST)
From:      Nathan Lawson <nlawson@kdat.csc.calpoly.edu>
To:        batie@agora.rdrop.com (Alan Batie)
Cc:        freebsd-security@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: BoS: Exploit for sendmail smtpd bug (ver. 8.7-8.8.2).
Message-ID:  <199611181515.HAA03705@kdat.calpoly.edu>
In-Reply-To: <m0vPIKD-0008rpC@agora.rdrop.com> from "Alan Batie" at Nov 17, 96 05:16:36 pm

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> > Sendmail is well understood and well maintained with a very long track
> > record.  Other mailers, no matter how much better, don't match this
> > track record.
> 
> Yup, sendmail has a long track record of the "security hole of the month";
> I've yet to see one for smail.  I would like to switch to sendmail, as I
> hear it deals with mail queues a lot better these days, and smail
> development seems to have gone into a black hole, but until sendmail can
> make it a whole month or two without a CERT advisory on it...

I've had the displeasure of reviewing the Smail code and found it just as
convoluted as sendmail, and in fact, just as insecure.  Last year, a colleague
posted three Smail bugs to Bugtraq.  There were many other potential holes,
but I stopped the review process and decided to go with a SMAP hybrid.

Note that I am not recommending sendmail, but I think your exultation with
smail is a bit premature.

-- 
Nate Lawson                  "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of
CPE Senior                    evil to one who is striking at the root."
CSL Admin                              -- Henry David Thoreau, 'Walden', 1854



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