Exec Shield for the Linux Kernel

DarkOx writes "There is a new patch from Ingo Molnar which can prevent overflow attacks. The scoop from KernelTrap is as follows: Ingo Molnar has announced a new kernel-based security feature for Linux/x86 called 'Exec Shield'. He describes the patch, which is against the 2.4.20-rc1 kernel, as: 'The exec-shield feature provides protection against stack, buffer or function pointer overflows, and against other types of exploits that rely on overwriting data structures and/or putting code into those structures. The patch also makes it harder to pass in and execute the so-called 'shell-code' of exploits. The patch works transparently, ie. no application recompilation is necessary.'"

Comments

Re:Great! [Scott]

[wass]

In addition, we can now write sloppy code and just tell people to install this patch first!

Well, yes and no. Think about the analogy of this to driving. Cars today have a number of safety features, including seat belts, air-bags, anti-lock breaks, etc. Do we drive less safely because of them? More importantly, should we not include these devices in cars to increase driving safety?

I believe it was Chris Rock joking about this in one of his sketches. He claimed that airbags are NOT going to make someone drive safely. He said something like "What you need is a giant spike coming out of the steering wheel. That'll make someone drive safe!".