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Date:      Wed, 08 Dec 1999 17:26:49 -0700
From:      Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org>
To:        Alfred Perlstein <bright@wintelcom.net>, Jonathon McKitrick <jcm@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>
Cc:        Kris Kennaway <kris@hub.freebsd.org>, freebsd-chat <chat@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   Re: Yahoo hacked last night
Message-ID:  <4.2.0.58.19991208172046.04970d50@localhost>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.21.9912081154210.4557-100000@fw.wintelcom.net>
References:  <Pine.BSF.4.02A.9912081911460.38037-100000@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>

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At 12:58 PM 12/8/1999 , Alfred Perlstein wrote:

>For a function to be able to return to its caller it must store the
>return address on the stack, 

Only on certain CPU architectures. Processors such as the TMS99000,
Intel i960, and Sparc -- often called "workspace" machines -- store 
return addresses in CPU registers and are thus less susceptible.
The venerable PDP-11 could do "leaf" function calls this way, too.
(When I programmed the LSI-11 in assembler, this was a common 
optimization. Elminating memory accesses was one way to make
those old, primitive CPUs howl.)

The semantics of some languages, such as FORTH, require separate 
return address and data stacks. Programs written in these languages
are also less susceptible.

--Brett



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