Hole in the Linux kernel allows root access | Linux Today

Hole in the Linux kernel allows root access

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Nov 4, 2009

“The hole is reportedly contained in pipe.c and can occur in
certain circumstances when using the pipe_read_open(),
pipe_write_open() or pipe_rdwr_open() functions while releasing a
mutex (mutual exclusion) too early – which constitutes a
classic race condition. So far, the flaw has only been fixed in
release candidate 6 of the forthcoming version 2.6.32.

“However, like previous null pointer dereference issues in the
Linux kernel, the vulnerability can only be exploited if the
kernel’s mmap_min_addr system variable is set to 0.”


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Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

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