Re: Fwd: Any user can panic OpenBSD machine

From: Kragen (kragenat_private)
Date: Tue Jul 28 1998 - 09:32:17 PDT

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    On Mon, 27 Jul 1998, Theo de Raadt wrote:
    > Whoopty doo -- another way to crash another operating system has been
    > reported.  This is twice now that a 'local' OpenBSD crash has made it
    > to bugtraq as if it were a typical exploit.  Does this now mean
    > bugtraq is open ground for reporting any way to crash a multiuser
    > operating system?  I bet there are plenty of ways to crash any
    > operating system, if you have a local account.
    
    There are operating systems -- KeyKOS and MVS, for example -- in which
    making this impossible is an explicit design goal.  I do not believe
    there are any known local-DoS exploits for either of these two OSes.
    
    > However, this bug does not by itself provide anyone with a way to gain
    > elevated priviledges and greater control of the system.  That is what
    > most of us normally call an 'exploit', or has the lingo changed
    > recently?
    
    Sometimes, being able to crash a machine reliably is enough control to
    cause some serious damage.
    
    > But I have not seen many ways to crash Linux
    > on BUGTRAQ, so I think people expect more of us.
    
    Perhaps this should change.
    
    > > Black hats distribute these kind of exploits quickly.  Let's make sure a
    > > few white hats know about them too.
    >
    > Black hats distribute information on how to crash systems?  I thought
    > they were concentrating on breaking root.
    
    Yes, black hats do distribute information on how to crash systems.
    
    Kragen
    



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