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4.221. ypserv

An updated ypserv package that fixes various bugs and adds one enhancement is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.
The ypserv utility provides network information (login names, passwords, home directories, group information) to all of the machines on a network. It can enable users to log in on any machine on the network as long as the machine has the Network Information Service (NIS) client programs running and the user's password is recorded in the NIS passwd database. NIS was formerly known as Sun Yellow Pages (YP).

Bug Fixes

BZ#747317
Previously, the rpc.yppasswdd daemon reported success even if the daemon was not able to write into a shadow file (for example, because of the incorrect SELinux context). With this update, an error is logged in syslog, and rpc.yppasswdd now reports failure in the described scenario.
BZ#403621
Due to the invalid ypdb_close() call, ypserv's virtual memory could in rare cases grow to a large size. As a consequence, ypserv failed to respond to Network Information Service (NIS) queries and had to be restarted. This update removes the invalid ypdb_close() call so that the amount of memory used remains at a reasonable size.
BZ#481780
Previously, when the user updated the ypserv package, the file /var/yp/Makefile was replaced, and any changes that the user had made in this file were overwritten. The file is now regarded as a config file, and is no longer replaced so that user's changes are preserved.
BZ#681699
Due to a string concatenation error in the code, running the "yppasswdd" command with the "-x" option in order to pass data to an external program to update the source files and maps, could have caused garbage characters to be inserted in front of the username. This caused the output to become unparseable. With this update, the operation is changed to a string-copy, so that the username is no longer corrupted when using the "-x" option.
BZ#695754
Previously, error messages of the rpc.yppasswdd utility were unclear when running the "yppasswdd" command with the "-x" option in order to pass data to an external program. This update adds quotation marks to error messages so that they can be easily read.
BZ#699662
Previously, there was no reference to the YPSERV_ARGS and YPXFRD variables in the sysconfig.txt file, neither in the ypserv manual pages. This update adds the YPSERV_ARGS and YPXFRD usage information to the ypserv manual pages.
BZ#707195
Prior to this update, the ypserv package did not contain a file describing what license the software used. This update adds the COPYING file which contains the license information.
BZ#712239
Previously, the yppush(8) manual page did not describe how to force the yppush utility to use a static port. The yppush(8) manual page has been modified to mention that the static port number can be set in /var/yp/Makefile.
BZ#743587
Prior to this update, the root user could see old passwords of other users. This was caused by a change request being logged using syslog when running the "yppaswdd" command with the "-x" option to pass data to an external program. With this update, the old password hash and the new password hash are cleared in syslog and the root user can no longer view the old passwords of other users.

Enhancements

BZ#679848
Prior to this update, users were not able to change their passwords by running the "yppasswd" command if using the passwd.adjunct file, which prevents disclosing the encrypted passwords. With this update, users are now able to change their passwords.
All users of ypserv are advised to upgrade to this updated package, which fixes these bugs and provides this enhancement.