It Couldn't Happen Again! Could it?   DON'T COUNT ON IT! JUST A YEAR AGO, THERE WAS AN INTERNET EXPLORER BUG CAUSED BY A MEMORY OVERFLOW PROBLEM. THE "Ping O' Death" IS YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE. THE HTTP "CGI" MECHANISM HAS A GREAT DEAL IN COMMON WITH THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FINGER SERVER: SERVER ACCEPTS INPUT THROUGH A NETWORK CONNECTION. SERVER RUNS LOCAL PROGRAM SERVER SENDS OUTPUT OF LOCAL PROGRAM TO REMOTE MACHINE. WRITING SECURE CGI SCRIPTS IS DIFFICULT.

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This page is part of a section of lecture slides related to " The Internet Worm " within the topic "Computer Security: A Case Study?". Other slides within this section and other sections of slides for the topic "Computer Security: A Case Study?" can be accessed using the links below. Paranoia Raising Some Sample Security Problems The Internet Worm The Internet Worm What was "The Worm"? Finding Machine Names How the Worm Broke in Password Guessing The SENDMAIL "Trap Door" The Finger Server Bug Computer Memory Organization Computer Memory and Program Variables Memory Overflow The Finger Bug It Couldn't Happen Again! Could it?