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To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Modprobe local root exploit
In-Reply-To: <3864.974181019@kao2.melbourne.sgi.com>
From: Florian Weimer <Florian.Weimer@RUS.Uni-Stuttgart.DE>
Date: 14 Nov 2000 10:19:31 +0100
In-Reply-To: Keith Owens's message of "Tue, 14 Nov 2000 16:50:19 +1100"
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Keith Owens <kaos@ocs.com.au> writes:

> All these patches against request_module are attacking the problem at
> the wrong point.

Agreed.

> The kernel can request any module name it likes, using any string it
> likes, as long as the kernel generates the name.  The real problem
> is when the kernel blindly accepts some user input and passes it
> straight to modprobe, then the kernel is acting like a setuid
> wrapper for a program that was never designed to run setuid.

I don't think it's a good idea to distribute such stuff over the whole
kernel.  Better control it at a single place, either when passing the
parameter down to modprobe, or in modprobe itself.  Everything else is
too error-prone.

-- 
Florian Weimer 	                  Florian.Weimer@RUS.Uni-Stuttgart.DE
University of Stuttgart           http://cert.uni-stuttgart.de/
RUS-CERT                          +49-711-685-5973/fax +49-711-685-5898
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