Re: Linux 2.1.115 oops (demo and fix)

[chris () CYBERNET CO NZ (Chris Wedgwood)]

On Thu, Aug 13, 1998 at 07:02:40PM +0100, Duncan Simpson wrote:

> 2.1.115 devpts contains a bug that can prevent you from unmounting
> file systems and the exploit program sticks in uninteruptable sleep
> until you reboot. It may be possible to trash kernel data
> structures using the bug with difficulty. I have yet to both ends
> of a pty using ptmx and devpts. I assume other version are
> vulnerable too.

[...]

Why is this even on BugTraq?

I assume almost everyone (including Aleph One) knows that 2.1.x is a
_development_ kernel version so bug should be reported to
linux-kernel () vger rutgers edu or security-audit () ferret lmh ox ac uk
where hopefully somebody can and will deal with it in a timely
fashion, and any fixes supplied will be greatfully accepted and
verified by the kernel gurus.

Anybody who runs 2.1.x on a production server and has it blow up or
whatever, deserves what they get.

In short, don't use 2.1.x for production/stable systems, use 2.0.x or
wait for 2.2.x.

Similar arguments apply to development releases of *BSD, etc.



-Chris