Ubuntu security hole? (not super major, but wondering if it is an issue to report)

[Alan McKinnon]

On Tuesday 09 May 2006 22:08, Mike Bird wrote:
> On Tuesday 09 May 2006 12:09, Dick Davies wrote:
> > On 09/05/06, Mike Bird <mgb-ubuntu at yosemite.net> wrote:
> > > I have worked where most programmers had keyboard/mouse/monitor
> > > remote access but no physical access to the secure computer
> > > room.  Programmers could reboot a system when necessary but not
> > > use removable media to become root.
> >
> > Mike, please read the thread.
> >
> > We're talking about fsck dropping you to a rootprompt because it
> > can't mount the disk, not booting off removable media.
>
> Dick, please read the thread.   ;-)
>
> The argument was that dropping to a root prompt is no loss of
> security because, given physical access, one could boot from
> removable media.
>
> Dropping to a root prompt is a security hole for those systems
> which provide keyboard access but which do not permit booting from
> removable media.

I disagree. Jumping through convoluted hoops if the machine can't 
mount / makes the system needlessly more complex. If the machine is 
so valuable that the users must never get root access, but must have 
user access, then lock the keyboard away and let them ssh in from 
their workstation in normal use

For the rare case where this is more effort than it's worth, just halt 
the machine (kill init, kernel panic, whatever) if fsck / fails. it's 
not like the machine can do anything useful so it'll just sit there 
till the real root user shows up.

-- 
If only me, you and dead people understand hex, 
how many people understand hex?

Alan McKinnon
alan at linuxholdings dot co dot za
+27 82, double three seven, one nine three five