/bin/login DoS remains after DSA-1709

Even after DSA-1709, /bin/login in Debian is vulnerable to a local DoS
attack; the attacker does not need special privileges to succeed. For
details please see
 
  http://www.debian.org/security/2009/dsa-1709
  http://bugs.debian.org/505271
  http://bugs.debian.org/505071
 
I do not know what practical uses this DoS could have.

(Debian and Ubuntu are vulnerable, I believe RedHat is not. I do not
know about other distros.)

Cheers,

Paul Szabo   psz@maths.usyd.edu.au   http://www.maths.usyd.edu.au/u/psz/
School of Mathematics and Statistics   University of Sydney    Australia