Re: WINE + NX (No eXecute) support for x86, 2.6.7-rc2-bk2

[Marc Bevand <bevand_m@epita.fr>]

Robert White wrote:
> You are missing the model:
> 
> To enable executable stack/heap you would:
> 
> if ((fd = open("/proc/self/NX",O_RDWR)) >= 0) {
>    write(fd,"1",1);
>    close(fd);
> }
> 
> (disabling would be symmetric with "0")
> 
> Because this is a sequence of specific instructions (that shouldn't exist in the
> default library to prevent stack return hack invocation) these instructions would
> exist only in programs that want to be EX anyway.

Even such a protection model (a sequence of 3 syscalls to enable or
disable NX) can be easily bypassed by an attacker. The classic method
of return-into-libc (with a small variation that I would call
chained-returns-into-libc) still works.

As other people already said on this list: the ability to disable NX
is a *bad* thing for security.

-- 
Marc Bevand                          http://www.epita.fr/~bevand_m
Computer Science School EPITA - System, Network and Security Dept.