IRC and Root Post: 60821

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Top Forums UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers IRC and Root Post 60821 by locustfurnace on Saturday 22nd of January 2005 12:41:48 PM

01-22-2005

Registered User

Quote:

Originally Posted by 9613315400

t
But how could a user over the internet make a script, and let it run onto my PC, unless i run it by myself??

Someone could DCC something to you on IRC.
If the IRC client has a discovered exploit, and if someone issues a CCTP, finger, whois...etc, to you, instead of getting information about your account, the exploit could be made to run a system command, causing damage to your system.
All the known issues today never means tomorrow something will not be discovered which could be extremely damaging.
Running as root may be OK today, but tomorrow a discovered hole in a program could be used to attack your system. Not all discovered holes in software code are public knowledge either.
If your box becomes compromised, then it could be used as a zombie to partake in further attacks.
This undermines one of the reasons to use GNU/Linux, is its security.
Is there really a reason you must be a logged in as root?

locustfurnace

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LEARN ABOUT LINUX

safe_finger

SAFE_FINGER(8)						     Linux Programmer's Manual						    SAFE_FINGER(8)

NAME

       safe_finger - finger client wrapper that protects against nasty stuff from finger servers

SYNOPSIS

       safe_finger [finger_options]

DESCRIPTION

       The  safe_finger  command  protects  against nasty stuff from finger servers. Use this program for automatic reverse finger probes from the
       tcp_wrapper (tcpd) , not the raw finger command. The safe_finger command makes sure that the finger client is not run with root privileges.
       It  also  runs  the finger client with a defined PATH environment.  safe_finger will also protect you from problems caused by the output of
       some finger servers. The problem: some programs may react to stuff in the first column. Other programs may get upset by thrash anywhere	on
       a  line.  File  systems may fill up as the finger server keeps sending data. Text editors may bomb out on extremely long lines.	The finger
       server may take forever because it is somehow wedged.  safe_finger takes care of all this badness.

SEE ALSO

       hosts_access(5), hosts_options(5), tcpd(8)

AUTHOR

       Wietse Venema, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.

Linux								  21th June 1997						    SAFE_FINGER(8)