Linux NULL pointer dereference due to incorrect proto_ops initializations | Linux Today

Linux NULL pointer dereference due to incorrect proto_ops initializations

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Aug 14, 2009

“The issue lies in how Linux deals with unavailable operations
for some protocols. sock_sendpage and others don’t check for NULL
pointers before dereferencing operations in the ops structure.
Instead the kernel relies on correct initialization of those
proto_ops structures with stubs (such as sock_no_sendpage) instead
of NULL pointers.”


A patch has been committed
— ed.


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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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