Security problem with local root user on SUN workstations

Ray E Saddler III ray3rd at ssc-vax.UUCP
Thu Nov 17 04:20:20 AEST 1988


In article <3228 at versatc.UUCP>, tran at versatc.UUCP (Tony Tran) writes:
>  We run into a big security problem on our SUN local network when a user
>  who has access to root (on the local workstation) decides to "su" to
>  any valid username on the YP server, and therefore access any file
>  he wants.
>  Since I cannot keep track of all local root users in the SUN NFS
>  environment, how can I get around this serious problem ?
>  Any hint/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Tighten up your allowance to root access.  This is a big
religious/political issue in many many newsgroups and the bottom
line is to simply enforce limits.  I have a network of over 60
engineering workstations (Unix based) which includes a few Suns,
and provide the user community with a support staff of 5 bodies whos
primary task is to keep the network in good shape.  The only other
option is to define laws and hope for compliance from your many root
users.
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