Why can't I ptrace init (pid == 1) ?

richard offer (offer@sgi.com)
Tue, 19 Jun 2001 09:03:23 -0700


In arch/i386/kernel/ptrace.c there is the following code ...

ret = -EPERM;
if (pid == 1) /* you may not mess with init */
goto out_tsk;

What is the rationale for this ? Is this a real security decision or
an implementation detail (bad things will happen).

Thoughts ?

richard.

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Richard Offer Technical Lead, Trust Technology
"Specialization is for insects" SGI
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