On 11/18/2011 11:33 PM, [email protected] wrote: > On Fri, 18 Nov 2011 06:10:00 PST, Dan Kaminsky said: > >> OK, seriously. If you're sitting in front of a machine that's presenting >> you a login prompt, you've got enough privileges to insert a bootable >> USB/CD and pull all the data / make yourself an account (FDE/Bios PW >> notwithstanding). > > Right. Which is why a passwordless guest account available to people who have > physical access isn't such a big deal. The problem is that if you manage to > get ssh enabled, there's not *that* much stopping the account from being used > from Zanzibar. > > Some operating systems (AIX, for instance) allowed tagging a userid as "local > access only", or even "may only login on tty 3, 5, and 23". Adding that sort > of a tag to the guest account would help the situation by adding some > security in depth.
Not saying this train of thought itself is safe, but... we've needed a singleuser mode (by whatever name) as a failsafe since ages forgotten. That being said, I don't know what is necessary about a default guest account -- those who really need physical access, passwordless guest accounts tend to know how to set them up. _______________________________________________ Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/
