> 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!
/dev/zero can be used for a variety of things. It contains no sensitive
information (only binary zeroes :) and hence conceptually its access should
not be restricted.
There are a lot of other denial-of-service attacks that users can employ on
Linux. If there's any interest in reducing the effectiveness of
denial-of-service attacks (and improving Linux's handling of
resource-exhaustion situations) that might be a better approach than simply
denying access to this device.
lilo