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Running "rm -rf /" Is Now Bricking Linux Systems (phoronix.com)

Posted by timothy on from the now-you-can-troll-harder dept.

An anonymous reader writes: For newer systems utilizing UEFI, running rm -rf / is enough to permanently brick your system. While it's a trivial command to run on Linux systems, Windows and other operating systems are also prone to this issue when using UEFI. The problem comes down to UEFI variables being mounted with read/write permissions and when recursively deleting everything, the UEFI variables get wiped too. Systemd developers have rejected mounting the EFI variables as read-only, since there are valid use-cases for writing to them. Mounting them read-only can also break other applications, so for now there is no good solution to avoid potentially bricking your system, but kernel developers are investigating the issue.

4 of 699 comments (clear)

  1. "Systemd developers have rejected ..." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    "Systemd developers have rejected ..."

    No surprise there.

    Hey, systemd developers know better than you how your server should be configured.

  2. Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's just now bricking systems? Wow, all this time I could have been running "rm -rf /" with reckless abandon ...

  3. Re: Linux is a fragile house of cards by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Linux package managers are well overdue for redesign.

    I'm sure Pottering will oblige in due course.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  4. Re:UEFI is TCPA repackaged, nice and shiny. by Microlith · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nothing quite like someone so prominently showing off their ignorance.

    I ran into this UEFI crap about half a year back, when I had to adjust some BIOS settings and couldn't, because I didn't have windows installed.

    I know the mode you speak of, it can be utilized effectively from Linux. Amusingly, it requires efivars to be writable as this article discusses.

    UEFI is just another machiavellian attempt at controlling our hardware from start to finish.

    Just like the BIOS was, right?

    How the fuck anyone could install let alone design and build a BIOS whos UI is depedant on what OS is installed on the HDD is totally beyond me.

    Fortunately, that's not at all the case. You are right about one thing: it is totally beyond you.

    How come no one get's worked up about that?

    Because not everyone is as blatantly ignorant about it. Or if they are, they are kindly keeping their mouths shut until they learn more.