[Announce] GnuPG 1.4.4 released (security bug fix)

Werner Koch wk at gnupg.org
Sun Jun 25 15:43:25 CEST 2006


Hello!
    
We are pleased to announce the availability of a new stable GnuPG
release: Version 1.4.4

This is maintenance release to fix a recently detected flaw in the
handling of user IDs, see the NEWS part below.  Updating to this
version is recommended.

The GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG) is GNU's tool for secure communication
and data storage.  It is a complete and free replacement of PGP and
can be used to encrypt data and to create digital signatures.  It
includes an advanced key management facility and is compliant with the
proposed OpenPGP Internet standard as described in RFC2440.


Getting the Software
====================

Please follow the instructions found at http://www.gnupg.org/download/
or read on:

GnuPG 1.4.4 may be downloaded from one of the GnuPG mirror sites or
direct from ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/ .  The list of mirrors can be
found at http://www.gnupg.org/mirrors.html .  Note, that GnuPG is not
available at ftp.gnu.org.

On the mirrors you should find the following files in the *gnupg*
directory:

  gnupg-1.4.4.tar.bz2 (2976k)
  gnupg-1.4.4.tar.bz2.sig

      GnuPG source compressed using BZIP2 and OpenPGP signature.

  gnupg-1.4.4.tar.gz (4173k)
  gnupg-1.4.4.tar.gz.sig

      GnuPG source compressed using GZIP and OpenPGP signature.

  gnupg-1.4.3-1.4.5.diff.bz2 (405k)

      A patch file to upgrade a 1.4.3 GnuPG source. 

Select one of them. To shorten the download time, you probably want to
get the BZIP2 compressed file.  Please try another mirror if
exceptional your mirror is not yet up to date.

In the *binary* directory, you should find these files:

  gnupg-w32cli-1.4.4.exe (1441k)
  gnupg-w32cli-1.4.4.exe.sig

      GnuPG compiled for Microsoft Windows and OpenPGP signature.
      This is a command line only version; the source files are the
      same as given above.  Note, that this is a minimal installer and
      unless you are just in need for the gpg binary, you are better
      off using the full featured installer at http://www.gpg4win.org .
      A new version of Gpg4win, including this version of GnuPG will
      be available and announced really soon.
  

Checking the Integrity
======================

In order to check that the version of GnuPG which you are going to
install is an original and unmodified one, you can do it in one of
the following ways:

 * If you already have a trusted version of GnuPG installed, you
   can simply check the supplied signature.  For example to check the
   signature of the file gnupg-1.4.4.tar.bz2 you would use this command:

     gpg --verify gnupg-1.4.4.tar.bz2.sig

   This checks whether the signature file matches the source file.
   You should see a message indicating that the signature is good and
   made by that signing key.  Make sure that you have the right key,
   either by checking the fingerprint of that key with other sources
   or by checking that the key has been signed by a trustworthy other
   key.  Note, that you can retrieve the signing key using the command

     finger wk ,at' g10code.com

   or using a keyserver like

     gpg --recv-key 1CE0C630

   The distribution key 1CE0C630 is signed by the well known key
   5B0358A2.  If you get an key expired message, you should retrieve a
   fresh copy as the expiration date might have been prolonged.

   NEVER USE A GNUPG VERSION YOU JUST DOWNLOADED TO CHECK THE
   INTEGRITY OF THE SOURCE - USE AN EXISTING GNUPG INSTALLATION!

 * If you are not able to use an old version of GnuPG, you have to verify
   the SHA-1 checksum.  Assuming you downloaded the file
   gnupg-1.4.4.tar.bz2, you would run the sha1sum command like this:

     sha1sum gnupg-1.4.4.tar.bz2

   and check that the output matches the first line from the
   following list:

3414d67f22973576f31e354f44859bafbccb7eee  gnupg-1.4.4.tar.bz2
3d504d7d31e6d9b81bf33a25bec08bc5e6c0fc0c  gnupg-1.4.4.tar.gz
5d6d193c22a878a02afee08a7b8733876b344a92  gnupg-1.4.3-1.4.4.diff.bz2
8695eee22ce62aef384665034ee81bd491bee9ed  gnupg-w32cli-1.4.4.exe



Upgrade Information
===================

If you are upgrading from a version prior to 1.0.7, you should run the
script tools/convert-from-106 once.  Please note also that due to a
bug in versions prior to 1.0.6 it may not be possible to downgrade to
such versions unless you apply the patch
http://www.gnupg.org/developer/gpg-woody-fix.txt .

If you have any problems, please see the FAQ and the mailing list
archive at http://lists.gnupg.org.  Please direct questions to the
gnupg-users at gnupg.org mailing list.


What's New
===========

 * User IDs are now capped at 2048 bytes.  This avoids a memory
   allocation attack (see CVE-2006-3082).

 * Added support for the SHA-224 hash.  Like the SHA-384 hash, it
   is mainly useful when DSS (the US Digital Signature Standard)
   compatibility is desired.

 * Added support for the latest update to DSA keys and signatures.
   This allows for larger keys than 1024 bits and hashes other than
   SHA-1 and RIPEMD/160.  Note that not all OpenPGP implementations
   can handle these new keys and signatures yet.  See
   "--enable-dsa2" in the manual for more information.


Internationalization
====================

GnuPG comes with support for 28 languages.  Due to a lot of new and
changed strings the translations are not entirely complete. 


Future Directions
=================

GnuPG 1.4.x is the current stable branch and will be kept as the easy
to use and build single-executable versions.  We plan to backport new
features from the development series to 1.4.

GnuPG 1.9.x is the new development series of GnuPG.  This version
merged the code from the Aegypten project and thus it includes the
gpg-agent, a smartcard daemon and gpg's S/MIME cousin gpgsm.  The
design is different to the previous versions and we may not support
all ancient systems - thus POSIX compatibility will be an absolute
requirement for supported platforms.  We are currently in the process
of updating the gpg part of 1.9 to the one of this release.

IF YOU NEED GNUPG 1.9, IT IS HIGHLY SUGGESTED THAT YOU INSTALL IT IN
ADDITION TO GNUPG 1.4!  Both versions will peacefully coexist and
extend each other.


Support
=======

Improving GnuPG is costly, but you can help!  We are looking for
organizations that find GnuPG useful and wish to contribute back.  You
can contribute by reporting bugs, improve the software, or by donating
money.

Commercial support contracts for GnuPG are available, and they help
finance continued maintenance.  g10 Code GmbH, a Duesseldorf based
company owned and headed by gpg's principal author, is currently
funding GnuPG development.  We are always looking for interesting
development projects. 

A service directory has recently been started at:

  http://www.gnupg.org/service.html


Thanks
======

We have to thank all the people who helped with this release, be it
testing, coding, translating, suggesting, auditing, administering the
servers, spreading the word or answering questions on the mailing
lists.  


Happy Hacking,


  The GnuPG Team (David, Werner and the other contributors)


-- 
Werner Koch                                      <wk at gnupg.org>
The GnuPG Experts                                http://g10code.com
Join the Fellowship and protect your Freedom!    http://www.fsfe.org
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