DC++ 0.850

The first new DC++ release in the last nine months, version 0.850 fixes and hardens security related functions further notably to avoid all popular TLS exploits emerged since last April.

This release also contains stability and performance updates of various 3rd party libraries and improvements of the latest version of the compiler.

For complete list of fixes and upgraded libraries, please explore the changelog items and the linked bug discussions.

DC++ 0.842

The first stable release of the 0.840 series of DC++ is out. Besides a few SSL encryption related and stability fixes this version largely focuses on implementing various features asked for or recommended by the user community through our feature tracker.

The changelog shows all the implemented new features and fixes.

DC++ 0.842 also provides protection against the infamous “Heartbleed” OpenSSL vulnerability. This security hole has existed in DC++ since version 0.799.

There’s a high chance of version 0.842 is the last mainstream DC++ release that supports Windows XP.  Due to the still large userbase of the already unsupported operating system, security and major stability fixes are possible for a few more months using a separate branch targeting XP only. The update reminder system is modified so in case of any forthcoming version targeting Vista and later being released, XP users won’t see the notification dialog anymore.

From that time on people running Windows XP will see the update nag dialog only if there’s an update targeting their old OS. However, starting with version 0.840 every XP user gets a special reminder at startup about the EOS of DC++ in their operating system.

Due to the nice new features and security fixes the upgrade is highly recommended.

DC++ 0.831

A new bug fixing service release of DC++ has been released today fixing the following problems introduced with version 0.830:

• One of the bugs, marked as critical, prevents DC++ to respond to TTH searches on NMDC hubs.
• A problem with too small protocol command size limits can cause problems for hubs sending large user commands.
• The newly introduced direct encrypted private message channels are getting disconnected after some idle time.

All the fixed problems exist in version 0.830 only thus older versions are not affected. For users running DC++ 0.830 the upgrade is highly recommended.

DC++ 0.830

Today we marked the first version of  the 0.83x series of DC++ as stable. The new release brings plenty of stability updates as well as introduces a new ADC feature to improve privacy.

The privacy improvement is actually an implementation of an ADC protocol extension called CCPM. Basically, it allows two peers to initate an SSL encrypted direct connection channel for sending and receiving private messages.

Until now, all private messages in the DC network has been gone through a hub where both users were logged in. While this method is great for controlling unwanted messages (spamming) it also makes possible for the hub owner to spy on any private communications.

Enter CCPM, a feature that still needs a hub to initiate the direct encrypted connection but the hub is needed only for the start. After the direct channel has been estabilished the messages go directly between the peers in an encrypted way. The channel initiation requires the two users to be logged on a secure ADC hub (ADCS).

The whole discussion of the protocol features and CCPM implementation can be found here (the implementation details with screenshots starts in this position of the thread). The built-in help of DC++ also describes the feature in the Private message window page and the availabe controlling options in the Certificates’ settings page (once updated, links will be added to  the web version of the DC++ help, too).

The list of other fixes in version 0.830 speak for themselves yet again this time, explore the changelog items and the linked bug discussions in them for more information.