Getting rid of the root account

[Peter da Silva]

In article <16659 at rpp386.Dallas.TX.US>, jfh at rpp386.Dallas.TX.US (John F. Haugh II) writes:
> Consider for a moment a `mount' program...

> The alternative is to grant the mount program `MOUNT' privilege
> _and_ use permission bits....

A perfect example of why this is a red herring.

So, you're saying that if you break that 'mount' program all you've broken
is protecting the 'MOUNT' privilege, and root is still secure.

But as soon as you get MOUNT privilege you can mount a file system containing
a program with any other privilege you want... and you have the keys to the
kingdom again. ROOT lives... it's just called 'MOUNT'.

So why be complex when you can be simple?
-- 
Peter da Silva, Xenix Support, Ferranti International Controls Corporation.

Business: uunet.uu.net!ficc!peter, peter at ficc.uu.net, +1 713 274 5180.
Personal: ...!texbell!sugar!peter, peter at sugar.hackercorp.com.