Messages in this thread | | | Subject | RE: [PATCH] e1000e: write protect ICHx NVM to prevent malicious write/erase | Date | Thu, 2 Oct 2008 08:37:40 -0700 | From | "Brandeburg, Jesse" <> |
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Jiri Kosina wrote: >> Set the hardware to ignore all write/erase cycles to the GbE region >> in the ICHx NVM. This feature can be disabled by the >> WriteProtectNVM module parameter (enabled by default) only after a >> hardware reset, but >> the machine must be power cycled before trying to enable writes.
> Does this impose any user-visible behavior change? (such as not being > able to set up wake-on-lan, change MAC address, whatever).
no, because none of that is stored permanently in the eeprom unless you do writes with ethtool -E. Our policy for the driver is generally don't ever write to the eeprom. So all the normal paths (except for initial start on preproduction hardware and ethtool -E writes) do not write to the eeprom.
Currently the driver will let you try to commit a change but with this patch it will never get written to NVM unless you reboot, load driver (the first time!) with WriteProtectNVM=0 and *then* do ethtool -E.
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