Oracle software flaws pose server attack threat

A security flaw in all versions of Oracle's database servers running on Windows NT could lead to a spate of denial of service attacks, according to a security advisory firm.

The glitch makes it possible for hackers to deny access to all other users and cause the operating system to crash, by repeatedly making requests to an Oracle database server.

The requests force the database to consume all memory on a server crashing the operating system like in a DoS attack.

A DoS attack is an assault on a network that floods it with so many additional requests that regular traffic is either slowed or completely interrupted.

A research team at Internet Security Systems discovered the defect, and their transcript of the problem and solution can be found at http://xforce.iss.net/alerts/advise81.php.

Oracle was not prepared to comment on the problem today.