From: "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@zytor.com>
To: Borislav Petkov <bp@alien8.de>,
Dave Hansen <dave@linux.vnet.ibm.com>,
linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-mm@kvack.org,
mingo@kernel.org, tglx@linutronix.de
Subject: Re: [PATCH 1/2] add helper for highmem checks
Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:02:03 -0800 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <5119786B.9020400@zytor.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20130211230003.GG2683@pd.tnic>
On 02/11/2013 03:00 PM, Borislav Petkov wrote:
> On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 02:46:43PM -0800, H. Peter Anvin wrote:
>> The X server itself used to do that. Are you saying that wdm is a
>> *privileged process*?
>
> Nah, it is a simple display manager you start with /etc/init.d/wdm init
> script. Like the other display managers gdm, kdm, etc.
>
> But it looks like wdm has copied stuff from xdm (from the README):
>
> "Wdm is a modification of XFree86's xdm package for graphically handling
> authentication and system login. Most of xdm has been preserved (XFree86
> 4.2.1.1) with the Login interface based on a WINGs implementation using
> Tom Rothamel's "external greet" interface (see AUTHORS)."
>
> And from looking at the part in the source which does the /dev/mem
> accesses, it comes from XFree86's source apparently, this is at the
> beginning of src/wdm/genauth.c:
>
Oh, it's not a *window manager*, it is a *session manager* (display
manager), and so it runs as root by default.
Plug the damned hole, submit a bug report to Debian to change the
default, and let's be done with it. That being said, it did flag a real
problem, but what it is doing is dangerous.
-hpa
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prev parent reply other threads:[~2013-02-11 23:02 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 15+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2013-02-08 20:28 Dave Hansen
2013-02-08 20:28 ` [PATCH 2/2] make /dev/kmem return error for highmem Dave Hansen
2013-02-08 20:48 ` H. Peter Anvin
2013-02-08 20:50 ` [PATCH 1/2] add helper for highmem checks H. Peter Anvin
2013-02-08 23:16 ` Dave Hansen
2013-02-09 9:41 ` Borislav Petkov
2013-02-09 10:47 ` Borislav Petkov
2013-02-11 17:32 ` Dave Hansen
2013-02-11 18:09 ` H. Peter Anvin
2013-02-11 18:28 ` Borislav Petkov
2013-02-11 19:44 ` H. Peter Anvin
2013-02-11 22:34 ` Borislav Petkov
2013-02-11 22:46 ` H. Peter Anvin
2013-02-11 23:00 ` Borislav Petkov
2013-02-11 23:02 ` H. Peter Anvin [this message]
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