LXer: This week at LWN: Null pointers, one month later
 

Published at LXer:

On July 16, Brad Spengler disclosed an easily-exploitable kernel vulnerability based on getting the kernel to dereference a null pointer. This security hole affected a version of the kernel which had not been widely distributed, so it was a problem for relatively few users, but it highlighted a class of problems which was sure to be seen again. Given that, and given our community's perception of itself as being responsive to security problems, it should be safe to assume that steps were taken to prevent null pointer vulnerabilities from opening up systems in the future. The reality is that some things have truly improved, but that some important vulnerabilities remain.

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