x86_64 architecture; 3.6.3 was earlier upgraded to 3.7.0; original .iso was a hardened x86_64 c. 3.6.2. First noticed this problem because I couldn’t find /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg

root@localhost:~# cd /boot
root@localhost:/boot# ls
System.map-hardened  extlinux.conf.old   libcom32.c32  menu.c32
boot                 initramfs-hardened  libutil.c32   vesamenu.c32
config-hardened      ldlinux.c32         lost+found    vmlinuz-hardened
extlinux.conf        ldlinux.sys         mboot.c32
root@localhost:/boot# cd boot
root@localhost:/# cd /boot/boot/
root@localhost:/# ls
bin   dev  home  lost+found  mnt   root     run   srv   sys  usr
boot  etc  lib   media       proc  rules.d  sbin  swap  tmp  var
root@localhost:/# cd /boot/boot/boot
root@localhost:/boot# ls
System.map-hardened  extlinux.conf.old   libcom32.c32  menu.c32
boot                 initramfs-hardened  libutil.c32   vesamenu.c32
config-hardened      ldlinux.c32         lost+found    vmlinuz-hardened
extlinux.conf        ldlinux.sys         mboot.c32

On closer examination, /boot has become a symlink to / as shown:

root@localhost:~# cd ..
root@localhost:/# pwd
/
root@localhost:/# ls -l
total 113
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root      4096 Dec 21 13:52 bin
drwxr-xr-x   3 root root      1024 Dec  3 02:31 boot
drwxr-xr-x  17 root root      3640 Jan 20 11:30 dev
drwxr-xr-x  65 root root      4096 Jan 18 19:15 etc
drwxr-xr-x   3 root root      4096 Jan 17 15:26 home
drwxr-xr-x   9 root root      4096 Jan 19 13:05 lib
drwx------   2 root root     16384 Nov 14 17:11 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x   7 root root      4096 Nov 16 23:15 media
drwxr-xr-x   3 root root      4096 Nov 22 10:57 mnt
dr-xr-xr-x 223 root readproc     0 Jan 20 11:30 proc
drwx------  15 root root      4096 Dec 29 16:44 root
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root      4096 Jan 13 18:01 rules.d
drwxr-xr-x  15 root root       580 Jan 20 11:32 run
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root     12288 Jan 13 18:00 sbin
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root      4096 Nov 14 17:12 srv
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root      4096 Nov 14 17:17 swap
dr-xr-xr-x  13 root root         0 Jan 20 11:30 sys
drwxrwxrwt   5 root root     32768 Jan 20 11:37 tmp
drwxr-xr-x  11 root root      4096 Nov 15 09:55 usr
drwxr-xr-x  12 root root      4096 Dec  3 00:46 var
root@localhost:/# cd /boot
root@localhost:/boot# ls -l
total 20363
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  4131160 Nov 27 10:59 System.map-hardened
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root        1 Nov 14 17:16 boot -> /
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   165139 Nov 27 10:59 config-hardened
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      439 Dec 13 15:26 extlinux.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      439 Dec  1 10:33 extlinux.conf.old
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 11574996 Nov 30 17:34 initramfs-hardened
-r--r--r-- 1 root root   116924 Dec  3 02:31 ldlinux.c32
-r--r--r-- 1 root root    69632 Dec  3 02:31 ldlinux.sys
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   181996 Dec  3 02:31 libcom32.c32
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    23616 Dec  3 02:31 libutil.c32
drwx------ 2 root root    12288 Nov 14 17:11 lost+found
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    11712 Dec  3 02:31 mboot.c32
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    26568 Dec  3 02:31 menu.c32
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    27020 Dec  3 02:31 vesamenu.c32
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  4502608 Nov 27 10:59 vmlinuz-hardened
root@localhost:/boot# cd /boot/boot
root@localhost:/# ls -l
total 113
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root      4096 Dec 21 13:52 bin
drwxr-xr-x   3 root root      1024 Dec  3 02:31 boot
drwxr-xr-x  17 root root      3640 Jan 20 11:30 dev
drwxr-xr-x  65 root root      4096 Jan 18 19:15 etc
drwxr-xr-x   3 root root      4096 Jan 17 15:26 home
drwxr-xr-x   9 root root      4096 Jan 19 13:05 lib
drwx------   2 root root     16384 Nov 14 17:11 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x   7 root root      4096 Nov 16 23:15 media
drwxr-xr-x   3 root root      4096 Nov 22 10:57 mnt
dr-xr-xr-x 222 root readproc     0 Jan 20 11:30 proc
drwx------  15 root root      4096 Dec 29 16:44 root
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root      4096 Jan 13 18:01 rules.d
drwxr-xr-x  15 root root       580 Jan 20 11:32 run
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root     12288 Jan 13 18:00 sbin
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root      4096 Nov 14 17:12 srv
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root      4096 Nov 14 17:17 swap
dr-xr-xr-x  13 root root         0 Jan 20 11:30 sys
drwxrwxrwt   5 root root     32768 Jan 20 11:37 tmp
drwxr-xr-x  11 root root      4096 Nov 15 09:55 usr
drwxr-xr-x  12 root root      4096 Dec  3 00:46 var

This is being flagged up as a possible vulnerability, but I couldn’t identify how it was created. System has otherwise appeared to have been booting and running unsuspectingly smoothly except for the following:

- Battery began to quickly empty (within minutes) shortly after purchase, so AC power is required.

• Launching a shell has been returning a prompt with an “ash: out of range” response for months, which led me to an attempt today to try to fix this and to notice that I couldn’t find syslinux.cfg (further to suggestion to fix grub, as at https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1751950)

Months ago, syslinux.cfg had been found and edited. Running a search for syslinux.cfg today yields no results; note response to ls /usr/bin/syslinux:

root@localhost:/boot# whereis syslinux.cfg
syslinux: /usr/bin/syslinux /usr/share/syslinux
root@localhost:/boot# ls /usr/bin/syslinux
/usr/bin/syslinux
root@localhost:/boot# ls /usr/share/syslinux
altmbr.bin     dmi.c32       isohdpfx.bin        lpxelinux.0   reboot.c32
altmbr_c.bin   dmitest.c32   isohdpfx_c.bin      ls.c32        rosh.c32
altmbr_f.bin   dosutil       isohdpfx_f.bin      lua.c32       sanboot.c32
cat.c32        efi64         isohdppx.bin        mboot.c32     sdi.c32
chain.c32      elf.c32       isohdppx_c.bin      mbr.bin       sysdump.c32
cmd.c32        ethersel.c32  isohdppx_f.bin      mbr_c.bin     syslinux.c32
cmenu.c32      gfxboot.c32   isolinux-debug.bin  mbr_f.bin     syslinux.com
com32          gptmbr.bin    isolinux.bin        memdisk       syslinux.exe
config.c32     gptmbr_c.bin  kbdmap.c32          meminfo.c32   syslinux64.exe
cptime.c32     gptmbr_f.bin  kontron_wdt.c32     menu.c32      vesa.c32
cpu.c32        gpxecmd.c32   ldlinux.c32         pci.c32       vesainfo.c32
cpuid.c32      hdt.c32       lfs.c32             pcitest.c32   vesamenu.c32
cpuidtest.c32  hexdump.c32   libcom32.c32        pmload.c32    vpdtest.c32
debug.c32      host.c32      libgpl.c32          poweroff.c32  whichsys.c32
dhcp.c32       ifcpu.c32     liblua.c32          prdhcp.c32    zzjson.c32
diag           ifcpu64.c32   libmenu.c32         pwd.c32
dir.c32        ifmemdsk.c32  libutil.c32         pxechn.c32
disk.c32       ifplop.c32    linux.c32           pxelinux.0

I considered posting this on the forum but was concerned due to the relative lack of response there (but I am very grateful for so much development activity!)

(from redmine: issue id 8407, created on 2018-01-20)