Bug#524940: module-init-tools: modprobe starts fork-bombing on executing oss-compat postinst

To: Debian Bug Tracking System <submit@bugs.debian.org>
Subject: Bug#524940: module-init-tools: modprobe starts fork-bombing on executing oss-compat postinst
From: "Matthew J. Lockner" <mlockner@iastate.edu>
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:56:50 -0500
Message-id: <[🔎] 20090420235650.24671.91343.reportbug@warlock.locknet>
Reply-to: "Matthew J. Lockner" <mlockner@iastate.edu>, 524940@bugs.debian.org
Package: module-init-tools
Version: 3.7-pre9-1
Severity: important

I recently did an "aptitude upgrade". I found that when the postinst of the 
oss-compat package was run during configuration of packages, I got a
screenful of warnings, and found a long list of modprobe and "sh modprobe"
processes running when inspecting the output of ps.  At first I was just
running "killall modprobe" to try to stop the madness, but found that
something just kept spawning more modprobe processes.  Eventually I found
that "killall sh modprobe" will do the trick, if I'm fast about it.
However, most of the times that I've tried tracking down or working around
this problem, my system locks so hard that I have to kill X with
Ctrl-Alt-Backspace, or even resort to the magic SysRq key, to get some
response out of my system again. 

I suspect this will be unreproducible since it hasn't been reported yet that
I can see, but it's a bad enough bug to bear mentioning at least.  I'm
likely going to try various combinations of package holds and downgrades
until my system starts behaving again.  What follows is a copy of the
warnings I got from running "dpkg-reconfigure oss-compat".

WARNING: Deprecated config file /etc/modprobe.conf, all config files belong
into /etc/modprobe.d/.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/isapnp, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/devfsd, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/display_class, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/pnp-hotplug, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base-blacklist,
it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: Deprecated config file /etc/modprobe.conf, all config files belong
into /etc/modprobe.d/.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/isapnp, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/devfsd, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/display_class, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/pnp-hotplug, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base-blacklist,
it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: Deprecated config file /etc/modprobe.conf, all config files belong
into /etc/modprobe.d/.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/isapnp, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/devfsd, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/display_class, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/pnp-hotplug, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base-blacklist,
it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: Deprecated config file /etc/modprobe.conf, all config files belong
into /etc/modprobe.d/.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/isapnp, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/devfsd, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/display_class, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/pnp-hotplug, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base-blacklist,
it will be ignored in a future release.
/var/lib/dpkg/info/oss-compat.postinst: line 6: 24207 Terminated
modprobe snd-seq-oss
WARNING: Deprecated config file /etc/modprobe.conf, all config files belong
into /etc/modprobe.d/.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/isapnp, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/devfsd, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/display_class, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/pnp-hotplug, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base-blacklist,
it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: Deprecated config file /etc/modprobe.conf, all config files belong
into /etc/modprobe.d/.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/isapnp, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/devfsd, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/display_class, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/pnp-hotplug, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base-blacklist,
it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: Deprecated config file /etc/modprobe.conf, all config files belong
into /etc/modprobe.d/.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/isapnp, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/devfsd, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/display_class, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/pnp-hotplug, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base-blacklist,
it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: Deprecated config file /etc/modprobe.conf, all config files belong
into /etc/modprobe.d/.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/isapnp, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/devfsd, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/display_class, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/pnp-hotplug, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base-blacklist,
it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: Deprecated config file /etc/modprobe.conf, all config files belong
into /etc/modprobe.d/.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/isapnp, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/devfsd, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/display_class, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/pnp-hotplug, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base-blacklist,
it will be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: Deprecated config file /etc/modprobe.conf, all config files belong
into /etc/modprobe.d/.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/isapnp, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/devfsd, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist, it will be
ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/display_class, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/pnp-hotplug, it will
be ignored in a future release.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base-blacklist,
it will be ignored in a future release.


-- System Information:
Debian Release: squeeze/sid
  APT prefers testing
  APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: i386 (i686)

Kernel: Linux 2.6.18 (PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C (charmap=ANSI_X3.4-1968)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash

Versions of packages module-init-tools depends on:
hi  libc6                         2.9-4      GNU C Library: Shared libraries
ii  lsb-base                      3.2-22     Linux Standard Base 3.2 init scrip

module-init-tools recommends no packages.

module-init-tools suggests no packages.

-- no debconf information
Reply to:
Follow-Ups:
- Bug#524940: module-init-tools: modprobe starts fork-bombing on executing oss-compat postinst
  - From: md@Linux.IT (Marco d'Itri)
Prev by Date: Bug#523896: (no subject)
Next by Date: Bug#525012: ifconfig fails to initialize a virtual interface with a zero IP address
Previous by thread: freebsd-buildutils 7.1-2 MIGRATED to testing
Next by thread: Bug#524940: module-init-tools: modprobe starts fork-bombing on executing oss-compat postinst
Index(es):
- Date
- Thread