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WinDriver Security Issues - Comment on klaus Remarks
by omerz - Dec 13th 2000 12:00:32
Programs access the WinDriver kernel module using the windrvr.o kernel
module.
The access is via a device file, just like any other device file. Its
the responsibility of the system administrator to ensure that this access
is not misused.
All of Linux's security and permissions apply to WinDriver access as
well.
WinDriver does not subvert the security of Linux. The superuser may
allow all users to access the WinDriver kernel module. He may just as well
write the superuser password on the walls of his company.
We provide a GUI on Linux (in V5.00 soon to be released) that users
can use to correctly define the hardware's access registers and limits.
WinDriver checks that the limits are enforced. Such runtime checking
helps write safer code.
If you go wrong by mistake, WinDriver will probably tell you so. If
you want to go wrong, that's your business.
Please try WinDriver yourself before commenting, and please give more
informed details. Whatever concerns you have, we can address them in a
constructive way.
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WinDriver is GOOD - Comment on Rentar Remarks
by omerz - Dec 13th 2000 11:51:20
Think of hardware engineers who have been told by their bosses to write a
new driver for Linux, because Linux is hot! What's the poor guy going to
do ? Read Rubini's book in two weeks, and churn out a Linux kernel module
in the next two weeks ? Have you seen the number of hardware engineers
posting questions about writing Linux device drivers ?
You have a mistake in your comment, WinDriver does not move kernel
level code to user level. It simply allows you to access hardware
directly. It goes to great lengths to make this access safe. We will
provide a GUI on Linux (in V5.00) that users can use to correctly define
the hardware's access registers and limits. WinDriver checks that the
limits are enforced. Such runtime checking helps write safer code.
Programmers can do good things with WinDriver, or they can blunder. The
same people can also blunder with a kernel mode driver. There are good
programmers and bad programmers, even evil programmers. There are no good
programs and bad programs, and no evil programs.
It does not facilitate kernel level code to have hooks in user space.
We'll need to look at the review of the german Linux magazine to understand
whether it was accurate or mistaken.
The name does not suggest windoze-esque techniques. Whats in a name?
Windows also does not really allow kernel mode code to have hooks in the
user mode.
Since some of the premises you used to draw your conclusion are not
accurate, your conclusion is also not very accurate.
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WinDriver IS NOT EVIL - Comment on Claudio Remarks
by omerz - Dec 13th 2000 11:42:59
Since WinDriver aids to produce user mode drivers, these are loaded and
unloaded with the applications that use them. They do not therefore bloat
the kernel.
The WinDriver kernel itself is not bloated. It is heavily tested,
efficient and optimized.
Linux lets good (not clueless) application programmers gain access to
useful hardware whose manufacturers don't care about providing Linux
drivers.
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WinDriver Linux Easy and Fast Tool
by philcc - Dec 7th 2000 11:02:34
I have used Windriver/Kernaldriver to create device drivers for my Linux
machine.
This development tool has made my development of these device drivers
so simple and fast that it has
cut my development time by over 50%.
Windriver/Kernaldriver are excellent products, and I would recommend
them
to anybody doing driver development on any type of system.
PHIL
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WinDriver - DOS style "security" for Linux
by klaus - Dec 4th 2000 12:50:47
I have read about WinDriver in the Linux Magazin, a german magazine. It is
indeed the crudest possible way to acess hardware: A kernel module which
gives user mode processes low-level access to any device on the computer -
just like DOS. A machine running driver software developed with WinDriver
can be rooted by any user. Of course, this applies to the Windows version
of WinDriver too.
The article in the Linux Magazin does mention how to recognize driver
software developed with WinDriver - it comes with a kernel module named
something like windrv (I don't have the magazine at hand now, so I can't
give more details)
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WinDriver IS evil!
by Rentar - Dec 4th 2000 12:01:56
- Simple - No operating system or kernel knowledge needed.
- Stable / Safe - Keeps unexperienced developers AWAY from the Linux
kernel.
Well, these two facts where given as Advantages on the homepage!
Simple: Yeah, anyone can write kernel-level code an fsck up his maschine,
great. Keeps unexperienced developers AWAY from the Linux kernel: ... and
moves kernel-level-code to user-level, even better!
I read a review of this system in a german Linux-Magazine, can't
remember which one it was, but it seems that WinDriver essentially allows
you to write user-level libraries that have hooks in kernel-space (and
kernel-level-code, that has hooks in user-level), thus bluring the
difference between the two.
As you can easily see those are windoze-esque technologies (as the name
suggests) and should be either a.) kept far away from any serious OS or
(more drastic) b.) taken out on the street and shot.
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Is WinDriver evil?
by Claudio Matsuoka - Jan 2nd 2000 08:38:46
WinDriver for Linux is a device driver development toolkit, which enables
you to develop a Linux device driver without having to be familiar with
the Linux kernel. All development is done in the user mode. WinDriver's
kernel module is a generic device driver
which resides in the Linux kernel mode. Your application calls
WinDriver through a defined API in the user mode, thereby
eliminating the need for you to understand the internals of the
Linux operating system.
Now this sounds scary to me. I suppose this could help the development of
bloated, inefficient or unoptimized drivers. The mysteries inherent in the
system kernel have been acting as a good barrier to rule out the bad
programmers so far. Could this situation change with clueless (in the
kernel sense) people using WinDriver to write binary-only device drivers?
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