OpenBSD Journal

i386 Support Dropped

Contributed by jose on from the even-more-security dept.

With the addition of ProPolice , kernel stack protection , and WorX , OpenBSD 3.3 was expected to be one of the most secure releases ever. However, this is all about to change.

i386 support has been dropped from of the platform. Peter Valchev, who is working hard on the removal of the code from the tree, says, "It's just too easy to exploit i386." Instead, the platform is shifting all of its efforts to the HPPA platform, where "the stack grows the other way around," Valchev says. This is sure to limit the exposure to the common stack smashing exploits so easily carried out on i386. This obviously means that the primordial HPPA port will have to mature in time for a 3.4 release.

(Comments are closed)

Comments

  1. By Anonymous Coward () on

    In a related story, it was announced that OpenBSD will not support multi- or uniprocessor platforms. In fact, the only thing it will support is a 7-bit Altaire.

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward () on

      I thought you meant GameBoy Advance SP?

  2. By Mark Grimes () on

    this is so wrong, we need that arch. i am going to freebsd. you may have noticed that i am not a developer anymore, cause i LOVE freebsd.

  3. By Edward () on

    We all know it's April 01. Do you really need to post many crazy stories one after another ?

    Comments

    1. By GPS () on

      Don't you find this funny? Metamucil is great for the times when nothing is funny anymore.


      I find this hilarious, but I am somewhat of a troll.

      It is only 1 day of the year. As long as this kind of thing doesn't happen 24x7 then I think it's cool.

  4. By Anonymous Coward () admin 4T accessanywherellc D0T com on mailto:admin 4T accessanywherellc D0T com

    You so totally got me. I even started searching Ebay for Sun hardware! Theo would never give up on Sparc, would he???

    Comments

    1. By Monkeyboy () ctillett@m-net.arbornet.org on mailto:ctillett@m-net.arbornet.org

      I feel like such an idiot for falling for this! I forget you guys do this stuff every year. I guess I should cancel the E450 I have coming tommorrow.

  5. By 0xcafebabe () on

    Sadly, there is some truth to this story.

    The actual implementation of the non-exec stack renders it nearly useless in many cases, as an attacker can simply return into libc to mprotect their egg back to PROT_EXEC.

    Current exploits for OpenBSD 3.3-current have been written to do exactly this...

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward () on

      Can't wait for x86-64 release and support.

      Sure wish that Sun would get off their high horse and lend a hand with appropriate docs for newer US3 (and future IV and V) support too. :(

      It would help in that regard a bit.

      Of course, clean code eliminates the downfalls of defense in depth by protecting at the first layer.

  6. By blowfish () i.m@not.gonna.tell.u.org on mailto:i.m@not.gonna.tell.u.org

    Really?

    Is i386 platform going to be dropped from further development?

    *puzzled*

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward () on

      Yes it's really going to be dropped. From now on, only i486 will be supported.

  7. By lca () lca@lukasz.com on http://huggZ.org

    April Fool's day!

    Comments

  8. By coward () vader@empire.com on mailto:vader@empire.com


    I'm contemplating ... FreeBSD, OpenBSD, or SuSE for this next machine in my split-split DNS project?
    If I choose OpenBSD, I'll need some sort of linux emulation. Therefore, I'll read up on that topic.



    You totally got me.. In fact, I almost grabbed that other BSD CD.

  9. By Anonymous Coward () on

    What's actually sad and not funny is that this is bad publicity, and confuses people, especially prospective suits and new users. You've done much harm to OpenBSD, shame on you!

    Comments

    1. By Anonymous Coward () on

      Who cares about 'suits'?

  10. By jose () on http://monkey.org/~jose/

    yet another joke. big thanks to peter for a great quote ... i'm surprised that some people fell for this one. like we'd lug around HP 700 series systems to replace our laptops!

    Comments

    1. By RC () on

      Could have been better... Maybe say OpenBSD is dropping the SPARC port all together, since Sun has refused to release docs...

    2. By anonymous mouse () somewhere@out.there.com on mailto:somewhere@out.there.com

      Yeah Yeah Yeah..and you think this is funny!

      Hahaha... *snigger*

      Tell me more about it..

      To think that you are using this as a joke and what does it bring to you? People falling for it and you getting the laughs?

      Morale of the story, it brings BAD PUBLICITY to OpenBSD and it'd affect OpenBSD in the mindset of people.

      In future, if you wana crack joke, please use some common sense before posting.

      Thanks!

    3. By David () ziggy@one2net.co.ug on mailto:ziggy@one2net.co.ug


      for real if i didnt scroll through the comments i wouldnt have known that this was a joke, i was devastated, i dont use OpenBSD, but i am reviewing it at the moment, i was about to blast this link to our local LUG, am sure they would kill me. Anyway i hope they never get to remove this arch :)

      david

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