A new system-tools-backends regression update is available for Ubuntu Linux. Here the announcement:

Ubuntu Security Notice USN-663-1 November 05, 2008
system-tools-backends regression
https://launchpad.net/bugs/287134
===========================================================

A security issue affects the following Ubuntu releases:

Ubuntu 8.10

This advisory also applies to the corresponding versions of
Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and Xubuntu.

The problem can be corrected by upgrading your system to the
following package versions:

Ubuntu 8.10:
system-tools-backends 2.6.0-1ubuntu1.1

In general, a standard system upgrade is sufficient to effect the
necessary changes.

Details follow:

It was discovered that passwords changed (or new users created) via the
"Users and Groups" tool were created with 3DES hashing. This reduced the
security of stored user passwords, and was a regression from the correct
MD5 hashing. This update fixes the problem; future password changes
will correct the hashing used. We apologize for the inconvenience.


Updated packages for Ubuntu 8.10:

Source archives:

http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/s/system-tools-backends/system-tools-backends_2.6.0-1ubuntu1.1.diff.gz
Size/MD5: 11981 0a9e19e908466dca073aafdbca052e10
http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/s/system-tools-backends/system-tools-backends_2.6.0-1ubuntu1.1.dsc
Size/MD5: 1585 cc8c71def106ad81fa59c45bae82790d
http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/s/system-tools-backends/system-tools-backends_2.6.0.orig.tar.gz
Size/MD5: 567711 913530493fa6cff6e797f4c888641d42

Architecture independent packages:

http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/s/system-tools-backends/system-tools-backends-dev_2.6.0-1ubuntu1.1_all.deb
Size/MD5: 14022 b1ba12e53953c0ee1449a8605232fabb

amd64 architecture (Athlon64, Opteron, EM64T Xeon):

http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/s/system-tools-backends/system-tools-backends_2.6.0-1ubuntu1.1_amd64.deb
Size/MD5: 113012 89e50d2b48202e6e5b4c2da8b06dff1c

i386 architecture (x86 compatible Intel/AMD):

http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/s/system-tools-backends/system-tools-backends_2.6.0-1ubuntu1.1_i386.deb
Size/MD5: 111786 f4f2c2a8808320cde6b1ee8105550dec

lpia architecture (Low Power Intel Architecture):

http://ports.ubuntu.com/pool/main/s/system-tools-backends/system-tools-backends_2.6.0-1ubuntu1.1_lpia.deb
Size/MD5: 111740 23882632c5460e7afbc3e04c6782c8dc

powerpc architecture (Apple Macintosh G3/G4/G5):

http://ports.ubuntu.com/pool/main/s/system-tools-backends/system-tools-backends_2.6.0-1ubuntu1.1_powerpc.deb
Size/MD5: 114390 1fcb07972e510878a1cb8668efb26f5b

sparc architecture (Sun SPARC/UltraSPARC):

http://ports.ubuntu.com/pool/main/s/system-tools-backends/system-tools-backends_2.6.0-1ubuntu1.1_sparc.deb
Size/MD5: 112456 6e27917fa2fa9371f518e9f04cc34c6d


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