Activity log for bug #898012

Date Who What changed Old value New value Message
2011-11-30 05:22:19 Brian Milliron bug added bug
2011-11-30 06:10:29 Brian Milliron description Background: Looking at raw data for my MBR I saw grub had not overwritten old data from previous installation that was wiped on suspicion of rootkit infection. I zeroed MBR manually and grub could not install. Restoring old MBR allows grub install to complete without error. However, since grub-install does not fully overwrite existing data, a user who wants confidence the entire MBR is clean must zero it out. This behavior could make cleaning bootkits impossible. Troubleshooting steps already taken: sudo grub-mkdevicemap sudo grub-mkconfig sudo update-grub2 sudo grub-setup -r /dev/mapper/group0-root /dev/sda switching (hd0) and (hd1) in device.map has no effect Steps to reproduce: Step 1 sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=63 Step 2 sudo grub-install /dev/sda (error below) Step 3 sudo dd if=~/backup.mbr of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=63 Step 4 sudo grub-install /dev/sda (no error) Error messages: sudo grub-probe --device-map="/boot/grub/device.map" --target=fs -v /boot/grub grub-probe: info: Scanning for dmraid_nv RAID devices on disk hd0. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: scanning hd0 for LVM. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: no LVM signature found. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: Scanning for mdraid09 RAID devices on disk hd0. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: Scanning for mdraid1x RAID devices on disk hd0. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: Scanning for mdraid09 RAID devices on disk hd0. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: Scanning for mdraid1x RAID devices on disk hd0. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: scanning hd0 for LVM. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: no LVM signature found. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: /dev/sda3 starts from 62926848. grub-probe: info: opening the device hd0. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sda3. Check your device.map. device.map (hd0) /dev/disk/by-id/mmc-00000_XXXXXXXXXX (hd1) /dev/disk/by-id/ata-TOSHIBA_XXXXXXXXXXXX_XXXXXXXXXX Fdisk output: Disk /dev/sda: 60.0 GB, 60011642880 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7296 cylinders, total 117210240 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: XXXXXXXXXXXXX Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sda1 2048 52434943 26216448 83 Linux /dev/sda2 52434944 62926847 5245952 83 Linux /dev/sda3 * 62926848 63318015 195584 83 Linux /dev/sda4 63318016 117209087 26945536 83 Linux Disk /dev/mapper/sda4_crypt: 27.6 GB, 27591176192 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3354 cylinders, total 53889016 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Disk /dev/mapper/sda4_crypt doesn't contain a valid partition table Disk /dev/mapper/group0-root: 9588 MB, 9588178944 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1165 cylinders, total 18726912 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Disk /dev/mapper/group0-root doesn't contain a valid partition table Disk /dev/mapper/group0-var: 9588 MB, 9588178944 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1165 cylinders, total 18726912 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Disk /dev/mapper/group0-var doesn't contain a valid partition table Disk /dev/mapper/group0-home: 5398 MB, 5398069248 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 656 cylinders, total 10543104 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Disk /dev/mapper/group0-home doesn't contain a valid partition table Disk /dev/mapper/group0-tmp: 645 MB, 645922816 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 78 cylinders, total 1261568 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Disk /dev/mapper/group0-tmp doesn't contain a valid partition table Disk /dev/mapper/group0-swap: 956 MB, 956301312 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 116 cylinders, total 1867776 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Disk /dev/mapper/group0-swap doesn't contain a valid partition table Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 32.3 GB, 32295092224 bytes 64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 30799 cylinders, total 63076352 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: XXXXXXXXXXXX Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/mmcblk0p1 * 32 411647 205808 83 Linux /dev/mmcblk0p2 411678 63076351 31332337 5 Extended /dev/mmcblk0p5 411680 63076351 31332336 83 Linux ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10 Package: grub-common 1.99-12ubuntu5 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-13.22-generic 3.0.6 Uname: Linux 3.0.0-13-generic i686 ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4 Architecture: i386 Date: Tue Nov 29 22:31:25 2011 InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release i386 (20111011) ProcEnviron: PATH=(custom, no user) LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: grub2 UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) Background: Looking at raw data for my MBR I saw grub had not overwritten old data from previous installation that was wiped on suspicion of rootkit infection. I zeroed MBR manually and grub could not install. Restoring old MBR allows grub install to complete without error. However, since grub-install does not fully overwrite existing data, a user who wants confidence the entire MBR is clean must zero it out. This behavior could make cleaning bootkits impossible. Steps to reproduce: Step 1 sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=63 Step 2 sudo grub-install /dev/sda (error below) Error messages: sudo grub-probe --device-map="/boot/grub/device.map" --target=fs -v /boot/grub grub-probe: info: Scanning for dmraid_nv RAID devices on disk hd0. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: scanning hd0 for LVM. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: no LVM signature found. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: Scanning for mdraid09 RAID devices on disk hd0. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: Scanning for mdraid1x RAID devices on disk hd0. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: Scanning for mdraid09 RAID devices on disk hd0. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: Scanning for mdraid1x RAID devices on disk hd0. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: scanning hd0 for LVM. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: no LVM signature found. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: info: /dev/sda3 starts from 62926848. grub-probe: info: opening the device hd0. grub-probe: info: the size of hd0 is 117210240. grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sda3. Check your device.map. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10 Package: grub-common 1.99-12ubuntu5 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-13.22-generic 3.0.6 Uname: Linux 3.0.0-13-generic i686 ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4 Architecture: i386 Date: Tue Nov 29 22:31:25 2011 InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release i386 (20111011) ProcEnviron: PATH=(custom, no user) LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: grub2 UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
2020-03-05 12:57:24 Marcus Tomlinson grub2 (Ubuntu): status New Incomplete
2020-05-05 06:14:13 Launchpad Janitor grub2 (Ubuntu): status Incomplete Expired