Linux disable or enable ExecShield protection

Posted by Vivek Gite [Last updated: April 9, 2007]

Q. Now that I have Cent OS (RHEL clone) installed on my IBM server, I’m wondering what is ExecShield and how do I disable the same?

A. ExecShield is security Linux kernel patch o avoid worms and other problems.

Wikipedia has more information about Exec Shield project:
Exec Shield is a project that got started at Red Hat, Inc in late 2002 with the aim of reducing the risk of worm or other automated remote attacks on Linux systems. The first result of the project was a security patch for the Linux kernel that adds an NX bit to x86 CPUs. While the Exec Shield project has had many other components, some people refer to this first patch as Exec Shield.

Task: Disable ExecShield protection

Type the following command as root user:
# sysctl -w kernel.exec-shield=0

You can disable it permanently system-wide after each and every reboot by adding following line to /etc/sysctl.conf file:
# vi /etc/sysctl.conf
Append following line
kernel.exec-shield = 0

Save and close the file. Please note that I don’t recommend disabling ExecShild protection.

You can also disable protection by appending the following parameter to the kernel command line in the GRUB bootloader to kernel line:
# vi /etc/grub.conf
Modify / append exec-shield=0 parameter as follows:
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.8 ro root=LABEL=/ exec-shield=0
Close and save the file.

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