Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 19:31:08 -0700 From: Peter Wemm <peter@wemm.org> To: ticso@cicely.de Cc: void <float@firedrake.org>, Bogdan TARU <bgd@icomag.de>, freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: security problem in sysctl? Message-ID: <20020713023108.1A8AE3811@overcee.wemm.org> In-Reply-To: <20020713020401.GU63545@cicely5.cicely.de>
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Bernd Walter wrote: > On Fri, Jul 12, 2002 at 10:23:35PM +0100, void wrote: > > On Wed, Jul 10, 2002 at 02:30:19PM +0200, Bogdan TARU wrote: > > > > > > Hi guys, > > > > > > I have just rebooted my machine, and immediately after boot I have run > > > 'sysctl -a' as an usual user. Well, in 'kern.msgbuf' I have found the > > > whole master.passwd file, with combinations of usernames/passwords. Isn't > > > that a security threat? > > > > Do you know how it got in there in the first place? I'd say that's the > > security problem. > > I would asume something like editing the passwd in single use mode. > kern.msgbuf should be closed for non root users - IMO. The real problem is that a year or so ago phk added code that unconditionally logged the /dev/console output in the msgbuf so that it could be logged as /var/log/console.log. This is one of the unfortunate side effects. Another one is that /dev/console output blows away the boot messages. I've been looking for an excuse to disable and/or reimplement this properly for ages, but it never got urgent enough. IMHO, the console output should go to a seperate buffer [which is restricted to root-only], and uses a different output channel to syslogd. Cheers, -Peter -- Peter Wemm - peter@wemm.org; peter@FreeBSD.org; peter@yahoo-inc.com "All of this is for nothing if we don't go to the stars" - JMS/B5 To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
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