> > abt the problem: have you tried to keep the passwd in a text file (chmod
> > 600) .. then get your php script to read the text file; (btw for this to
> > work you have to mail the server admin (bhavin) and ask him to chown
> > nobody:nobody filename.txt for you.
>
> Still, I could make a CGI script which could simply read the password file
> when invoked through the web-server (obviously, with nobody permissions)
>
> Worse still, I can make my CGI program MODIFY that file!!!
>
You're right I didn't think that far. DUH!
>
> Well, security is a very tricky issue, and we need to be very careful
> before thinking about _any_ solution. There could still be loopholes ...
> and worse at that!
>
But almost all users files can be modified by malevolent CGI's; In this case
it is significantly easier to write/steal wrappers for CGI's. [essentialy
setting the effective UID and GID bits for the CGI during its execution]. A
lot of 'em are available open source and can be installed by a tyro.
.. this is something you can do nothing about. It's up to the server admin;
'the most secure os in the world is useless in the hands of an incompetent
admin' -phrack mag
('course I'm not suggesting anything abt Bhavin ;)) )
> > The real solution is something called virtual root; Man chroot
> to read all
> > about it...
> > No lowcost webhoster in the world provides this facility though.
>
> But that's still a very tricky thing. Hard to understand and setup. And,
> if something is tricky, chances are that you might leave loopholes still!
>
> Another (high-cost, in terms of processing resources as well as money, for
> the service provider will ask for more) solution is to start a dedicated
> web-server on some other port with your own user-id for all
> database-transaction related things.
Yep; but monitoring services provided by the backend may not like it. I mean
ppl like colossus, exodus, clk etc who provide ded servers regulary walk
thru the open ports on your machine. IF any unusual port is open... they try
and kill the associated process....
so you'd have to get the server admin to mail the back end too......
Even more money! :)
I know colossus has a perl script that used to run on a machine called
orange; Arnold the Terminator it was called.......
>
> The caveat is this. If there is some bug in the web-server (of which I've
> never heard for quite some time now), then YOUR data (and all of it) will
> be compromised.
>
> > There's yet another solution that I had explored... you have to write
> > a wrapper that will execute httpd with the pid of the user;
>
> Yes. I've heard about this. But have no ideas .... Anyone for enlightening
> us?
>
> regards,
> jaju
>
> To subscribe / unsubscribe goto the site www.ilug-bom.org .,
> click on the mailing list button and fill the appropriate information
> and submit. For any other queries contact the ML maintener
>
>
To subscribe / unsubscribe goto the site www.ilug-bom.org ., click on the mailing list
button and fill the appropriate information
and submit. For any other queries contact the ML maintener
