Re: [PATCH] Add user taint flag

From: Stefan Seyfried
Date: Wed May 24 2006 - 09:49:27 EST


On Mon, May 22, 2006 at 03:36:44AM -0700, Andrew Morton wrote:
> "Theodore Ts'o" <tytso@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > Allow taint flags to be set from userspace by writing to
> > /proc/sys/kernel/tainted, and add a new taint flag, TAINT_USER, to be
> > used when userspace is potentially doing something naughty that might
> > compromise the kernel.
>
> What sort of userspace actions are you thinking of here?

I also thought about tainting the kernel from a userspace program that
messes with runtime power management - switch off and on various devices
at runtime (which is not recommended by anyone) - and you are clearly in
Unsupportedland.

So yes, this is a good idea (although i just would have written a module
without MODULE_LICENSE that just printk'ed "Tainting kernel, we will use
runtime power management" on load.)
--
Stefan Seyfried \ "I didn't want to write for pay. I
QA / R&D Team Mobile Devices \ wanted to be paid for what I write."
SUSE LINUX Products GmbH, Nürnberg \ -- Leonard Cohen
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