Re: [NTLK] root on OSX

From: Peter H. Coffin (hellsop_at_ninehells.com)
Date: Wed Apr 16 2003 - 14:33:37 PDT


On Wed, Apr 16, 2003 at 04:27:33PM -0400, Chris Ruprecht wrote:
> Well, it will not actually delete everything. The moment it deleted the rm
> command, usually in /bin, it can go no further. But there are work-arounds
> for that, I can provide you with another method to shoot yourself in the
> foot, if you like ;).
> On the up side: rm usually does a pretty good job before it erases itself, so
> it's safe to say that you should have an install disk ready, by the time you
> get the error message ...

Nah, rm's usually statically-linked (the core tools are), so it can
cheerfully delete it's own binary as the whole thing is loaded into
memory when its running. There's some really interesting horror stories
floating around about recovering machines where /bin and /dev have
already be zotted but vital stuff in /var needs to be saved.

-- 
71. If I decide to test a lieutenant's loyalty and see if he/she should be 
    made a trusted lieutenant, I will have a crack squad of marksmen standing 
    by in case the answer is no.
                --Peter Anspach's list of things to do as an Evil Overlord
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