Messages in this thread | | | From | "H. Peter Anvin" <> | Subject | Re: [2.6] The List, pass #2 | Date | 12 Aug 2002 22:27:43 -0700 |
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Followup to: <3D5233BC.96ABDF73@aitel.hist.no> By author: Helge Hafting <helgehaf@aitel.hist.no> In newsgroup: linux.dev.kernel > > > > Why *safer*? Partition (,DHCP,..) code is ran once at boot. It is hard for > > it to harm security. > > I wouldn't worry about partition detection, but network stuff > is always risky. A "bad guy" could listen for DHCP > and try to fake a response or do a buffer overflow. > > Userspace programs are supposedly easier to fix, and a > messed-up userspace isn't quite as bad as a messed up kernel > when an attacker tries to get in. >
Perhaps more relevantly:
a) User-space code is easier to write; consider memory management in particular.
b) If the user-space process has gotten compromised or corrupted, it still goes away when it exits. In the kernel, any corruption stays around forever.
-hpa -- <hpa@transmeta.com> at work, <hpa@zytor.com> in private! "Unix gives you enough rope to shoot yourself in the foot." http://www.zytor.com/~hpa/puzzle.txt <amsp@zytor.com> - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
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