Apache 1.3.19 Released The Apache Software Foundation and The Apache Server Project are pleased to announce the release of version 1.3.19 of the Apache HTTP server. (Version 1.3.18 was not released due to an incorrect fix addressing hostnames with url-escaped characters. A corrected fix will be included in the next release) This version of Apache is primarily a security fix release addressing a problem which could lead to a directory listing being displayed in place of an error message. Also, it fixes some broken functionality present in the 1.3.17 release and various Win32 issues. A summary of the new features is given at the end of this document. We consider Apache 1.3.19 to be the best version of Apache available and we strongly recommend that users of older versions, especially of the 1.1.x and 1.2.x family, upgrade as soon as possible. No further releases will be made in the 1.2.x family. Apache 1.3.19 is available for download from http://httpd.apache.org/dist/ Please see the CHANGES_1.3 file in the same directory for a full list of changes. Binary distributions are available from http://httpd.apache.org/dist/binaries/ The source and binary distributions are also available via any of the mirrors listed at http://www.apache.org/mirrors/ As of Apache 1.3.12 binary distributions contain all standard Apache modules as shared objects (if supported by the platform) and include full source code. Installation is easily done by executing the included install script. See the README.bindist and INSTALL.bindist files for a complete explanation. Please note that the binary distributions are only provided for your convenience and current distributions for specific platforms are not always available. As of Apache 1.3.17 the Win32 binary distribution is now based on the Microsoft Installer (.MSI) technology. This change occured in order to resolve the many problems WinME and Win2K users experienced with the older InstallShield-based installer .exe file. Development continues to make this new installation method more robust, questions should be directed at the news:comp.infosystems.www.servers.ms-windows news group. Apache 1.3.17 for Win32 also marked the first 'initial release quality' version available for Win32, and users are strongly discouraged from using the older 'beta quality releases'. For an overview of new features introduced after 1.2 please see http://httpd.apache.org/docs/new_features_1_3.html In general, Apache 1.3 offers several substantial improvements over version 1.2, including better performance, reliability and a wider range of supported platforms, including Windows 95/98 and NT (which fall under the "Win32" label). Apache is the most popular web server in the known universe; over half of the servers on the Internet are running Apache or one of its variants. IMPORTANT NOTE FOR WIN32 USERS: Over the years, many users have come to trust Apache as a secure and stable server. It must be realized that the current Win32 code has not yet reached the levels of the Unix version, but is of acceptable quality. Any Win32 stability or security problems do not impact, in any way, Apache on other platforms. Apache 1.3.19 Major changes The primary security fix is: * The default installation could lead mod_negotiation and mod_dir or mod_autoindex to display a directory listing instead of the multiview'ed index.html.* files, if a very long path was created artificially by using many slashes. Now 403 FORBIDDEN is returned. The bug fixes are: * The ServerRoot directive now removes trailing slashes. * Restore functionality broken by the mod_rewrite security fix: The mod_rewrite string arithmetic is corrected for rewrite map. * Some possible segfault conditions have been fixed. * Under certain circumstances, Apache did not supply the right response headers when requiring authentication. The main new features include: * New configuration error reporting if the UserDir argument is set to a relative path on Win32 or Netware [which do not support home directories], or a relative path on any platform if that path includes the '*' username substitution. Selected new features that relate to Windows platforms: * Apache on Win9x now ensures the service is stopped before removal. * Test httpd.conf (-t) now holds the console open on "SYNTAX OK". * Apache/Win32 no longer holds open the console on error unless it was invoked from a shortcut with the -w option. * mod_user was significantly refactored to assure that the UserDir directive is parsed effectively the same across platforms, fixing a UserDir bug introduced in 1.3.17 on the Win32 platform. Selected new features relating to other platforms: * Netware problems with file extension truncatation are resolved. * Netware recognizes the SERVER/VOLUME:/PATH/FILE filename pattern. * Netware mod_tls properly disables nagle for SSL connections, and properly negotiates SSL based on the port. * Startup and Shutdown issues were addressed on TPF.