[Regression] crash in scan_dmi_sysfs when running as non-root

[dann frazier]

[Impact]
lshw crashes when run as non-root:

Though it does warn before crashing that it should be run as super-user, it should fail gracefully - not abort and dump core. A number of users have been hitting this since the regression has been introduced:

  https://errors.ubuntu.com/problem/3ef7206b4102c14c8741b44fde30b21b4a571bbe

[Test Case]
ubuntu@lshw:~$ lshw
WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::bad_alloc'
  what(): std::bad_alloc
Aborted (core dumped)

[Regression Risk]
The fix I've proposed[*] only comes into play when lshw is about to crash, so regression risk should be minimal.

[*] https://github.com/lyonel/lshw/pull/14

[dann frazier (dannf)]

This impacts upstream; I've submitted a bug (stuck in moderation) and a pull request. I'll give upstream a day or so to digest to see if we can incorporate an upstream-accepted fix.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package lshw - 02.17-1.1ubuntu5

---------------
lshw (02.17-1.1ubuntu5) yakkety; urgency=medium

  * d/p/Avoid-crash-in-scan_dmi_sysfs-when-running-as-non-ro.patch: Fix a
    regression from the last upload that causes lshw to crash when running
    unprivileged (LP: #1590994).

 -- dann frazier <email address hidden> Mon, 13 Jun 2016 16:36:15 -0600

[Chris J Arges (arges)]

Hello dann, or anyone else affected,

Accepted lshw into xenial-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/lshw/02.17-1.1ubuntu3.2 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, and change the tag from verification-needed to verification-done. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed. In either case, details of your testing will help us make a better decision.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance!

[dann frazier (dannf)]

I ran the following tests:

= ARM64 (APM Mustang in u-boot mode) =
$ lshw > lshw-02.17-1.1ubuntu3.1
$ sudo lshw > sudo-lshw-02.17-1.1ubuntu3.1
# apt upgrade lshw
$ lshw > lshw-02.17-1.1ubuntu3.2
$ sudo lshw > sudo-lshw-02.17-1.1ubuntu3.2
$ diff -u lshw-02.17-1.1ubuntu3.1 lshw-02.17-1.1ubuntu3.2
$ diff -u sudo-lshw-02.17-1.1ubuntu3.1 sudo-lshw-02.17-1.1ubuntu3.2

= x86 (OpenStack instance) =
$ lshw
WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::bad_alloc'
  what(): std::bad_alloc
Aborted (core dumped)
$ sudo lshw > sudo-lshw-02.17-1.1ubuntu3.1
# apt upgrade lshw
$ lshw > lshw-02.17-1.1ubuntu3.2
WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
WARNING: output may be incomplete or inaccurate, you should run this program as super-user.
# NOTE: didn't segfault
$ sudo lshw > sudo-lshw-02.17-1.1ubuntu3.2
$ diff -u sudo-lshw-02.17-1.1ubuntu3.1 sudo-lshw-02.17-1.1ubuntu3.2
$

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package lshw - 02.17-1.1ubuntu3.2

---------------
lshw (02.17-1.1ubuntu3.2) xenial; urgency=medium

  * d/p/Avoid-crash-in-scan_dmi_sysfs-when-running-as-non-ro.patch: Fix a
    regression from the last upload that causes lshw to crash when running
    unprivileged (LP: #1590994).

 -- dann frazier <email address hidden> Tue, 14 Jun 2016 15:38:08 -0600

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

The verification of the Stable Release Update for lshw has completed successfully and the package has now been released to -updates. Subsequently, the Ubuntu Stable Release Updates Team is being unsubscribed and will not receive messages about this bug report. In the event that you encounter a regression using the package from -updates please report a new bug using ubuntu-bug and tag the bug report regression-update so we can easily find any regressions.