Debian GNU/Linux Advisory: nullmailer | Linux Today

Debian GNU/Linux Advisory: nullmailer

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Nov 18, 2002
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Debian Security Advisory DSA 198-1                     security@debian.org
http://www.debian.org/security/                             Martin Schulze
November 18th, 2002                     http://www.debian.org/security/faq
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Package        : nullmailer
Vulnerability  : denial of service
Problem-type   : local
Debian-specific: no

A problem has been discovered in nullmailer, a simple relay-only mail
transport agent for hosts that relay mail to a fixed set of smart
relays.  When a mail is to be delivered locally to a user that doesn't
exist, nullmailer tries to deliver it, discovers a user unknown error
and stops delivering.  Unfortunately, it stops delivering entirely,
not only this mail.  Hence, it's very easy to craft a denial of service.

This problem has been fixed in version 1.00RC5-16.1woody2 for the
current stable distribution (woody) and in version 1.00RC5-17 for the
unstable distribution (sid).  The old stable distribution (potato)
does not contain a nullmailer package.

We recommend that you upgrade your nullmailer package.

wget url
        will fetch the file for you
dpkg -i file.deb
        will install the referenced file.

If you are using the apt-get package manager, use the line for
sources.list as given below:

apt-get update
        will update the internal database
apt-get upgrade
        will install corrected packages

You may use an automated update by adding the resources from the
footer to the proper configuration.


Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 alias woody
- --------------------------------

  Source archives:

    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5-16.1woody2.dsc
      Size/MD5 checksum:      602 39d11580de5a781c1cadf6d422164d8c
    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5-16.1woody2.diff.gz
      Size/MD5 checksum:     6298 179e56c04af207b19ff020f66b580419
    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5.orig.tar.gz
      Size/MD5 checksum:   111691 61041ff5b1e41f9280d63a04c3383144

  Alpha architecture:

    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5-16.1woody2_alpha.deb
      Size/MD5 checksum:   103944 e46443575ae0a0d55475423b1e31bdeb

  ARM architecture:

    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5-16.1woody2_arm.deb
      Size/MD5 checksum:    70804 2feab48d3941330c03f00567488831f5

  Intel IA-32 architecture:

    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5-16.1woody2_i386.deb
      Size/MD5 checksum:    68558 ec8e1b3f33bc436897358c80a6f43b3c

  Intel IA-64 architecture:

    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5-16.1woody2_ia64.deb
      Size/MD5 checksum:   144246 c508c104d7b775e84641aabdc2adf209

  HP Precision architecture:

    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5-16.1woody2_hppa.deb
      Size/MD5 checksum:    88306 87b75f52b7ae1e8bdab2a121b79492bd

  Motorola 680x0 architecture:

    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5-16.1woody2_m68k.deb
      Size/MD5 checksum:    67616 29f83614261e229bff40b1c54b12fa3b

  Big endian MIPS architecture:

    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5-16.1woody2_mips.deb
      Size/MD5 checksum:   102682 91e6a2aabc65fb2b430619dc625a6485

  Little endian MIPS architecture:

    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5-16.1woody2_mipsel.deb
      Size/MD5 checksum:   101292 83745fe1ea40cdefb298e2d55f1e0a2b

  PowerPC architecture:

    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5-16.1woody2_powerpc.deb
      Size/MD5 checksum:    73996 81bbf1beb5a46a08405d1e4535b4ae44

  IBM S/390 architecture:

    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5-16.1woody2_s390.deb
      Size/MD5 checksum:    72914 3e5608138030d4577e14e0f17144a2ff

  Sun Sparc architecture:

    http://security.debian.org/pool/updates/main/n/nullmailer/nullmailer_1.00RC5-16.1woody2_sparc.deb
      Size/MD5 checksum:    73748 cb947e14ce9c2803d55f959d4f03f454


  These files will probably be moved into the stable distribution on
  its next revision.

Survey on the use of Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 alias potato:
http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce-0211/msg00001.html

- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For apt-get: deb http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main
For dpkg-ftp: ftp://security.debian.org/debian-security dists/stable/updates/main
Mailing list: debian-security-announce@lists.debian.org
Package info: `apt-cache show <pkg>' and http://packages.debian.org/<pkg>;

Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

Linux Today Logo

LinuxToday is a trusted, contributor-driven news resource supporting all types of Linux users. Our thriving international community engages with us through social media and frequent content contributions aimed at solving problems ranging from personal computing to enterprise-level IT operations. LinuxToday serves as a home for a community that struggles to find comparable information elsewhere on the web.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.