Author Archive

EnvironmentError: The environment options "TRAC_ENV" or "TRAC_ENV_PARENT_DIR"
or the mod_python options "TracEnv" or "TracEnvParentDir" are missing.

Yuck. What’s more, if you’re using SuExec (like I am) then your Apache directives are ignored.

Solution: Edit your trac.fcgi and prepend the following code.

# hack for SuExec
import os;
os.environ['TRAC_ENV_PARENT_DIR'] = ‘/var/lib/trac’

Some vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel where publicly disclosed on the 8th of February 2008. These can be exploited by any user to gain elevated privileges. A “local root” exploit was published Sunday which allows an arbitrary user to escalate to root privileges.

Affected versions: >= 2.6.17
Fixed in version: 2.6.24.2
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truecrypt_windows.png
truecrypt_osx.png
truecrypt_linux.png
Finally we have a truly portable, open source, encrypted filesystem. I’ve tested a fair share of encrypted filesystem solutions. The most promising probably being encfs since it could be used with Fuse, but that only works on OS X and Linux at best.

TrueCrypt, probably the best solution available, was only working on Linux and Windows… up to now.
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Here is a list of keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys available during the boot sequence of OS X on Intel based macs although some shortcuts also work on PPC.
Shamelessly ripped off apple’s documentation article:
Startup key combinations for Intel-based Macs.

KeystrokeDescription
Press C during startupStart up from a bootable CD or DVD, such as the Mac OS X Install disc that came with the computer.
Press D during startupStart up in Apple Hardware Test (AHT), if the Install DVD 1 is in the computer.
Press Option-Command-P-R until you hear two beeps. Reset NVRAM
Press Option during startup Starts into Startup Manager, where you can select a Mac OS X volume to start from. Note: Press N to make the the first bootable Network volume appear as well.
Press Eject, F12, or hold the mouse (/trackpad) button Ejects any removable media, such as an optical disc.
Press N during startupAttempt to start up from a compatible network server (NetBoot).
Press T during startupStart up in FireWire Target Disk mode.
Press Shift during startupStart up in Safe Boot mode and temporarily disable login items.
Press Command-V during startupStart up in Verbose mode.
Press Command-S during startupStart up in Single-User mode.
Press Option-N during startup Start from a NetBoot server using the default boot image.

But that’s impossible!!

HTTPS is just HTTP encapsulated inside an SSL tunnel. Apache’s virtual hosts are a clever “hack” whereby the Host header in the HTTP packet is verified. This alllows a single apache instance on a single IP/Port combination to serve a (not so) infinite number of differentes sites (aka vhosts).

Problem: The SSL tunnel is created before the first HTTP packet gets sent. Apache needs an SSL certificate but doesn’t have a Host header to match, hence cannot choose a virtual host.

Solution

This trick essentially does the matching of the Host header after the SSL connection has been established. How? Via some mod_rewrite magic!

Caveats

Although I said so, it’s not really that magical. There are a few things this trick does not solve.

  • The SSL certificate used will be common to all SSL vhosts.
  • Certain Apache directives may be common to all SSL vhosts (example: SuExecUserGroup). Basically anything you can’t override in a .htaccess file will be shared amongst vhosts.

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We all know Firefox is a great browser but what really sets it apart are its numerous extensions (or plugins).

With the right extensions, firefox can become much more than a web browser. But this isn’t about turning your firefox into a blogging platform or a social bookmarking application. It’s about turning your firefox into one of the best tools for web development, debugging and penetration testing web applications.
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To get a list of virtual hosts that run on a particular server (IP or domain), the following search engines are available:

  • Live search engine from Microsoft. Use the ‘ip:’ keyword. Example: ip:207.46.30.24
  • CRUSH rIP tool. Works only on domains (no IPs), only com, net and org domains and you need to answer a captcha. Nevertheless, it found results that live.com didn’t.