Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 21:55:33 -0200 (EDT) From: Joao Carlos Mendes Luis <jonny@coppe.ufrj.br> To: perhaps@yes.no (Eivind Eklund) Cc: se@FreeBSD.ORG, cvs-committers@FreeBSD.ORG, cvs-all@FreeBSD.ORG, cvs-ports@FreeBSD.ORG, hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Password verification (Was: cvs commit: ports/x11/kdebase - Imported sources) Message-ID: <199711022355.VAA00864@gaia.coppe.ufrj.br> In-Reply-To: <199711022156.WAA19972@bitbox.follo.net> from Eivind Eklund at "Nov 2, 97 10:56:59 pm"
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(Following up to -hackers, this discussion seems to belong there) #define quoting(Eivind Eklund) // > I have not yet tested the functionality of kdm, but there seems // > to be a problem with decoding the screenlock password, so it may // // This is because we use shadow passwords, and the KDE screensavers are // installed non-setuid by default. Changing their permissions to // 4555 root.wheel will make them work. However - do we really want to // distribute a lot of extra setuid programs? (The correct design would // have been to have a single module that checked the password.) This is a design problem, IMHO. In the old days of Version 7 UNIX, I've done some user programs that checked the user identity by testing his password, and I didn't need (nor wanted) to run that program suid to root. (No, having the right UID has not enough for me. I did not believe the machine's operators, and history has proven me right.) Now, this can only be done with root privileges, openning doors to more security flaws. xlock is a pretty example. Why should it be suid root for only for password testing ? But, how to allow users check only their own password, and still have the added security of shadow passwords ? I can only think in a kind of password checking daemon that would accept commands on a AF_UNIX socket and some patches to libc pw commands. Is this worth the extra work ? Not for me anymore, but I would really like to see such a feature. Jonny -- Joao Carlos Mendes Luis jonny@gta.ufrj.br +55 21 290-4698 jonny@coppe.ufrj.br Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro UFRJ/COPPE/CISI PGP fingerprint: 29 C0 50 B9 B6 3E 58 F2 83 5F E3 26 BF 0F EA 67
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