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Subject: Re: Running sendmail non-suid
To: cschuber@uumail.gov.bc.ca
Date: Mon, 9 Dec 1996 14:37:27 -0800 (PST)
Cc: black@squid.gage.com, cschuber@uumail.gov.bc.ca, bmk@pobox.com,
        security@freebsd.org
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In-Reply-To: <199612092204.OAA18326@passer.osg.gov.bc.ca> from Cy Schubert - ITSD Open Systems Group at "Dec 9, 96 02:04:50 pm"
From: "Brant Katkansky" <bmk@pobox.com>
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> On the surface this appears be the case, however if you NFS export a
> filesystem that contains files owned by the smtp user, especially to a
> system where someone else has root, you open your system to root compromise.
> 
> If you do manage all of your NFS clients, you will need to make the same
> change or risk being hacked via a setuid-root sendmail on the client.
> 
> If NFS would map all administrative accounts to nobody, I think you might be
> reasonably safe.  The only NFS server I know that does this is Linux NFS
> server.

No NFS here.  The product requirements specifically forbid it. :)

-- Brant Katkansky (bmk@pobox.com, brantk@atlas.com)
   Software Engineer, ADC