linux-kernel - Re: unable to mmap /dev/kmem

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Message-Id: <1169227629.3055.525.camel@laptopd505.fenrus.org>
Date:	Fri, 19 Jan 2007 18:27:09 +0100
From:	Arjan van de Ven <arjan@...radead.org>
To:	Hugh Dickins <hugh@...itas.com>
Cc:	Nadia Derbey <Nadia.Derbey@...l.net>,
	Franck Bui-Huu <fbuihuu@...il.com>, Andi Kleen <ak@...e.de>,
	LKML <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: unable to mmap /dev/kmem

On Fri, 2007-01-19 at 17:12 +0000, Hugh Dickins wrote:
> On Fri, 19 Jan 2007, Arjan van de Ven wrote:
> > On Fri, 2007-01-19 at 16:33 +0000, Hugh Dickins wrote:
> > > Though I do wonder whether
> > > it was safe to change its behaviour at that stage: more evidence that
> > > few have actually been using mmap of /dev/kmem. 
> > 
> > ... and maybe we should just kill /dev/kmem entirely... it seems mostly
> > used by rootkits but very few other things, if any at all...
> 
> It was discourteous of me not to CC you: I thought you might say that ;)
> Though so long as /dev/mem support remains, /dev/kmem might as well?

they're not the same; for a long time, /dev/mem on actual memory
returned zeros... so you couldn't use it for rootkits ;)
(that got "fixed" a while ago)

> And be kept as a CONFIG_ option under DEBUG_KERNEL thereafter?

config option is fine I suppose... I assume distros will be smart enough
to turn it off ;)

-- 
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