i've heard (though not confirmed myself) that if php is running as a
loadable apache module it is possible to use such a local attack
vector to read from the apache parent's memory, and extract tasty
morcels such as unencrypted SSL keys. obviously this would have an
I don't know if it's possible but some bugs would allow you indeed to real Apache's local memory. I have no knowledge about if the keys are present there in a form that makes possible to steal them. It is quite easy to protect against that, however - by running PHP as FastCGI module. Which seems to be a good solution for people running untrusted code in context of their PHP servers.
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Stanislav Malyshev, Zend Products Engineer
stas@zend.com http://www.zend.com/