University students tasked with finding flaws in Unix applications as homework have uncovered 44 bugs. But since the University of Illinois at Chicago students were asked by tutor Daniel Bernstein to find 10 bugs each, most will likely flunk his Unix Security Holes course. The assignment counted for 60 per cent of the marks available to the 25 students taking the course.

Finding 10 security holes in deployed Unix software is a tall order even for experts, never mind students, and you've got to wonder if Bernstein didn't set the bar too high for the course's first intake. Notices about the security flaws uncovered - which range in severity and affect applications including CUPS and MPlayer - can be found here. ®

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