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Date:      Wed, 1 Aug 2001 01:21:12 -0400 (EDT)
From:      Jeff Palmer <scorpio@drkshdw.org>
To:        Robert Watson <rwatson@FreeBSD.org>
Cc:        <stable@FreeBSD.org>
Subject:   Re: Patch to modify default inetd.conf, have sysinstall prompt to edit , inetd.conf
Message-ID:  <20010801010958.X9176-100000@jeff.isni.net>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.NEB.3.96L.1010731233839.54921B-200000@fledge.watson.org>

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Pardon my newbieness..

Doesn't the 4.x branch have a dialog box at install time  asking you what
security model you'd prefer..   if you select high security,  'inetd'
itself is even disabed.. (Your own post showed the dialog)

In my opinion,  security is up to each individual administrator. They
should enable and disable all services based on their own needs. I rarely
see a machine with a competent admin,  running a nearly 100% default
install.

Also,  FreeBSD has been awesome at fixing security holes within minutes or
hours (and in extreme cases,  a day or two).  So the likelyhood of any
daemon being exploitable within the first 15 minutes of a fresh install
are pretty much zero.

Therefore,  it doesn't matter what services are enabled/disabled in
inetd.conf as most administrators edit that file within a few minutes of a
default install anyway.  The current model,  you edit it to close some
ports.   in the model you suggest,  you edit it to open some ports.
Either way,  it takes an entire 20 seconds (ok,  1 minute for the 'vi
newbie') to edit the file and HUP inetd.

I'd prefer to see people spending their time auditing the code,  so we can
be even more proactive about exploits and vulnerabilities than we
currently are,  rather than wasting time talking about services enabled in
inetd.



Just my two cents.  Feel free to CC: me unless it's a flame.
If it's a flame..  please add [FLAME] to the subject for the procmail
filters.


Jeff Palmer
scorpio@drkshdw.org





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