Having reviewed the changelog for Linux 2.4.7, I find that the ptrace attach code was amalgamated from many architecture dependant files into one function : ptrace_attach. This function differs from previous functions on i386 in that it returns EPERM if:
1) task->mm is NULL 2) task->pid <= 1 3) !task->mm->dumpable whereas pre 2.4.7 was !task->dumpable
Further investigation shows that dumpable has been moved from task_struct to mm_struct. My investigation has not been sufficient to determine the final cause, but most things can be overridden by CAP_SYS_PTRACE, which I'll look into tomorrow PM. G'night all.
__________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com