In message <x7d6yfglsa.fsf_-_@capsicum.wsrcc.com>, Wolfgang Rupprecht writes:
>
>> Even if OpenSSH were written in a higher level language, vulnerabilities
>> would still occur (e.g. CGI scripts and PHP), and if it still ran with
>> root privileges most of the time, those vulnerabilities would still be
>> just as troublesome.
>
>Gcc does have a patch for turning it into a run-time bounds checker.
>
>        http://www.gnu.org/software/gcc/projects/bp/main.html
>
>I don't know if one would necessarily want to run with the bounds
>checks on in a production system, but running it on the development
>systems might flush out a few bounds violation bugs.
>
Hoare had a line on that, too, from around 1983 -- he likened such 
behavior to sailors practicing ashore with life jackets, but leaving 
them home when they went to sea.  

		--Steve Bellovin, http://www.research.att.com/~smb
		Full text of "Firewalls" book now at http://www.wilyhacker.com