Re: Dumping /dev/zero to the console

Webmaster (Nathan.Lewis@nixnet.qrp.com)
Thu, 18 Jul 1996 15:22:58 +0000


On 18 Jul 96 at 1:19, Paul Gortmaker <gpg109@rsphy6.anu.edu.au>
wrote:

>
> Here is a neat trick to make your linux box essentially unusable:
>
> On linux console, even as a non-priv user, do a:
>
> % dd if=/dev/zero bs=1024k
>
> Now switch to another console (or even X) and try to do anything useful
> and see how the box behaves. Same result with v1.2.13 and v2.0.7 kernel.
>
> Paul.
>

That's basically the same as the "grep whatever /dev/zero" discussed
on this list a while back.

Is there any reason /dev/zero should be readable by normal users, or
is it safe to chmod it so that nobody pulls this stunt? Just
wundering!

NL