Not only would that be illegal, it would be nearly impossible, since you'd have to patch bash at the binary level. IIR, compiled software on Linux is non-deter

Not only would that be illegal, it would be nearly impossible, since you'd have to patch bash at the binary level. IIR, compiled software on Linux is non-deterministic, so you'd stand an amazingly high chance of damaging the targeted system as opposed to fixing it. So, if you could pull that one off, you'd not only be a god, but you'd be a god that would probably spend the rest of your life defending yourself in court, where ethics and justice are not really the point. Just let the process handle it. It's way simpler and far less likely to blow up.