>>>>> "Gregory" == Gregory Maxwell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:

    Gregory> After seeing the modprobe local root exploit today, I asked
    Gregory> myself why kmod executes modprobe with full root and doesn't
    Gregory> drop some capabilities first.

    Gregory> Why? It wouldn't close the hole, but it would narrow it down.

This might also be a good idea; but my suggestion is to not allow arbitrary
strings as module names in the first place. As far as I can see, all valid
strings for KMOD requests consist of alphanumeric chars plus dash and
underscore. Anybody with autoloaded modules that don't fit this pattern even
after /etc/modules.conf translation please object !

Here's the patch...

        Torsten

--- linux/kernel/kmod.c.orig    Tue Sep 26 01:18:55 2000
+++ linux/kernel/kmod.c Mon Nov 13 16:57:02 2000
@@ -168,6 +168,22 @@
        static atomic_t kmod_concurrent = ATOMIC_INIT(0);
 #define MAX_KMOD_CONCURRENT 50 /* Completely arbitrary value - KAO */
        static int kmod_loop_msg;
+       const char * p;
+
+       /* For security reasons ensure the requested name consists
+        * only of allowed characters. Especially whitespace and
+        * shell metacharacters might confuse modprobe.
+        */
+       for (p = module_name; *p; p++)
+       {
+         if ((*p & 0xdf) >= 'a' && (*p & 0xdf) <= 'z')
+           continue;
+         if (*p >= '0' && *p <= '9')
+           continue;
+         if (*p == '_' || *p == '-')
+           continue;
+         return -EINVAL;
+       }
 
        /* Don't allow request_module() before the root fs is mounted!  */
        if ( ! current->fs->root ) {

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