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| author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-23 13:28:57 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-08-23 13:28:57 -0700 |
| commit | 4352b8aee98005853aa63f57d6377282de17a33f (patch) | |
| tree | 27614d7a9ef05c32d089004e104364ce42324837 /Documentation/security/sak.rst | |
| download | linux-stable-4352b8aee98005853aa63f57d6377282de17a33f.tar.gz linux-stable-4352b8aee98005853aa63f57d6377282de17a33f.zip | |
Merge tag 'i3c/for-7.3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/i3c/linuxgrafted
Pull I3C updates from Alexandre Belloni:
"A new driver this cycle, for the AMD AXI I3C controller.
There are also new features such as IBI wakeup support, SETAASA device
discovery and ACPI support for the the DAA methods, meaning we can now
communicate with the SPD devices on DDR5 modules.
New driver:
- AMD AXI I3C master controller
Subsystem:
- I3C Common Command Code (CCC) handling improvements, especially
around GET CCCs
- SETAASA device discovery support
- ACPI support for all existing DAA methods like SETDASA, SETNEWDA as
well as I2C devices on I3C bus
- IBI-based wakeup support
Drivers:
- dw: SETAASA support
- mipi-i3c-hci: advertise IBI wakeup capability, AMD_PT I3C
controller support, PIO queue management support for HCI v1.2
- renesas: improve suspend to RAM support, add runtime PM support"
* tag 'i3c/for-7.3' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/i3c/linux: (70 commits)
i3c: dw: reduce do_daa time if there's no client
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Add support for AMD_PT I3C controller
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Add PIO queue management support for HCI v1.2
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Fix missing STAT_IBI_STATUS_THLD in PIO mode
i3c: dw: rename "pclk" to "apb" to match dt-binding
i3c: dw: make struct dw_i3c_cmd smaller
i3c: dw: use COMMAND_PORT_TRANSFER_ARG instead of hardcoding
i3c: renesas: Don't register devices when ENTDAA times out
i3c: master: dw-i3c-master: fix OD timing for first broadcast
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Advertise IBI wakeup capability
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci: Factor out i3c_hci_sysdev()
i3c: mipi-i3c-hci-pci: Propagate I3C wakeup requirements to PCI
i3c: master: Reject IBI requests from non-IBI-capable devices
i3c: master: Add helper to query bus wakeup requirements
i3c: master: Report wakeup events for IBIs
i3c: master: Support IBI-based wakeup capability
i3c: master: Fix potential UAF in i3c_device_match()
i3c: master: Fix potential UAF in i3c_device_uevent()
i3c: Make dev->desc locking assumptions explicit
i3c: master: Fix use-after-free of master->this
...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/security/sak.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/security/sak.rst | 91 |
1 files changed, 91 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/security/sak.rst b/Documentation/security/sak.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..260e1d368 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/security/sak.rst @@ -0,0 +1,91 @@ +========================================= +Linux Secure Attention Key (SAK) handling +========================================= + +:Date: 18 March 2001 +:Author: Andrew Morton + +An operating system's Secure Attention Key is a security tool which is +provided as protection against trojan password capturing programs. It +is an undefeatable way of killing all programs which could be +masquerading as login applications. Users need to be taught to enter +this key sequence before they log in to the system. + +From the PC keyboard, Linux has two similar but different ways of +providing SAK. One is the ALT-SYSRQ-K sequence. You shouldn't use +this sequence. It is only available if the kernel was compiled with +sysrq support. + +The proper way of generating a SAK is to define the key sequence using +``loadkeys``. This will work whether or not sysrq support is compiled +into the kernel. + +SAK works correctly when the keyboard is in raw mode. This means that +once defined, SAK will kill a running X server. If the system is in +run level 5, the X server will restart. This is what you want to +happen. + +What key sequence should you use? Well, CTRL-ALT-DEL is used to reboot +the machine. CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE is magical to the X server. We'll +choose CTRL-ALT-PAUSE. + +In your rc.sysinit (or rc.local) file, add the command:: + + echo "control alt keycode 101 = SAK" | /bin/loadkeys + +And that's it! Only the superuser may reprogram the SAK key. + + +.. note:: + + 1. Linux SAK is said to be not a "true SAK" as is required by + systems which implement C2 level security. This author does not + know why. + + + 2. On the PC keyboard, SAK kills all applications which have + /dev/console opened. + + Unfortunately this includes a number of things which you don't + actually want killed. This is because these applications are + incorrectly holding /dev/console open. Be sure to complain to your + Linux distributor about this! + + You can identify processes which will be killed by SAK with the + command:: + + # ls -l /proc/[0-9]*/fd/* | grep console + l-wx------ 1 root root 64 Mar 18 00:46 /proc/579/fd/0 -> /dev/console + + Then:: + + # ps aux|grep 579 + root 579 0.0 0.1 1088 436 ? S 00:43 0:00 gpm -t ps/2 + + So ``gpm`` will be killed by SAK. This is a bug in gpm. It should + be closing standard input. You can work around this by finding the + initscript which launches gpm and changing it thusly: + + Old:: + + daemon gpm + + New:: + + daemon gpm < /dev/null + + Vixie cron also seems to have this problem, and needs the same treatment. + + Also, one prominent Linux distribution has the following three + lines in its rc.sysinit and rc scripts:: + + exec 3<&0 + exec 4>&1 + exec 5>&2 + + These commands cause **all** daemons which are launched by the + initscripts to have file descriptors 3, 4 and 5 attached to + /dev/console. So SAK kills them all. A workaround is to simply + delete these lines, but this may cause system management + applications to malfunction - test everything well. + |
