I recently purchased 2 ReadyNas Ultra 6 units. I wasn't aware that they are running Debian Etch OS. This wouldn't be a problem except that I work in a government facility that is BIG on information assurance. The fact that they are running an unsupported OS means they can't be on the network...kind of defeats the purpose!!! Can they be upgraded to the newest Debian or can we install a new version of RHEL on it and configure it to be a file server? Any help is really appreciated!!! Thanks!
As bugfixes and patches for security issues are being backported, generally I dont see an actual problem, that thy run older Debian releases...
Concerning Government and other such facilities, shouldnt you have to get approval first and then buy equipment? Usually it works this way, not otherwise... :roll:
And unfortunately you cannot upgrade Debian version on those, unless Netgear itself does that. Even if you manage to compile all necessary drivers and kernel modules, rewrite all those custom tailored scripts to support never OS, you wont be ableto install it into device itself.
Even if the software is in fact secure, the challenges are (a) being able to show that and (b) convincing the responsible folks to make an exception.
I know that, dealt with such issues on my workplace. Most security scanners, Nessus for example, also have this flaw by default, they check version numbers, intsead of actual vulnerability itself. 😉
For example, you could patch Samba to fix vulnerability, but as version number doesnt change, it would be still reported as "flawed" and upgrade advised. But sometimes upgrade isnt an option for various reasons...
