Newsgroup: it.comp.sicurezza.varie
Titolo: Fear Not Root?

Su un'installazione di Cucciolo CaneGrasso64 leggo che "...logging in as 
root is not a problem and is in fact safer than what you think".
Che ne pensate? Inoltre, la stessa filosofia sarebbe applicabile anche 
ad altri s.o.?
 
 
===
file:///usr/share/doc/faqs/login.html
I'm logged in as root?
 
Fatdog is a 64-bit desktop operating system targeted for home desktop 
computer owners. It aims to give full control of the home computer to 
its users, without restriction.
 
As such, the primary user is "root". User logins as root. By default, 
not even a password is required - the system autologins as root upon 
boot-up. Logging in as root offers unparalleled convenience for the home 
users, so it is and always be the default mode of operation for Fatdog.
 
Before you say that logging in as root is "unsafe", please ask yourself 
- "unsafe" from who? Remember this is a home desktop computer we are 
talking about, not a shared server in large networked environments. In 
this context, logging in as non-privileged user only protects you from 
one person - yourself (ie from your own mistakes). It also protects you 
from doing exactly one thing: destroying the system.
 
But consider this:
 
     restoring Fatdog operating system is a 5 seconds job assuming you 
have Fatdog CD/DVD/USB around, and
     logging in as unprivileged user does not protect you from mistakes 
in wiping out your own data.
 
What is more important and irreplaceable - your data, or the operating 
system files?
 
 
Question: But what about network programs? How about security holes in 
them? Especially, how do I ensure that whenever I use web browser / 
email / chat program / etc (insert your favorite network program name 
here), if there are security holes in them, they won't able to infect my 
system?"
 
Answer: Fatdog answer to this question is the same way that Android 
(yes, that Android) answers the question: Network security should not be 
equal to local security.
 
In Fatdog, most network programs runs as "spot", which is an 
non-privileged user. "spot" only have access to very limited places. If 
there are security holes in that network program that allows remote 
attacker to gain access to the system, they will only be able to access 
stuff which "spot" can access - which is not much. (Android goes even 
further - every process, not only network processes, is run by separate 
randomised users).
 
How is this any different from standard non-privileged user login?
 
Consider this - lets say you login as your regular non-privileged user 
("regular" means the user id you use for day-to-day work, so this is the 
user id that owns your home directory, owns your data, etc) and run 
network programs as that user too. This is how typical Linux distros do 
it. Now lets assume that there is a security hole in the network program 
that enables a remote attacker to gain access to your system. When a 
remote attacker manages to do this, he/she will gain access as your 
regular user id (because this is the user id used to run the network 
program, remember?).
 
What can the remote attacker not do? Among other things:
 
     he/she cannot delete operating system files.
     he/she cannot read certain operating system passwords.
     he/she cannot modify operating system files (e.g. to implant a 
system-wide keylogger to monitor every user in the system).
 
Big deal. Lets see what the remote attacker can do (among other things):
 
     he/she can delete your data
     he/she can read all of your data, including your passwords, your 
credit card numbers, your tax returns, etc
     he/she can modify and install programs executed by you at every 
startup - such as installing keylogger to monitor everything you type.
 
Thus - what exactly does logging in as non-privileged user protect? What 
is more important and irreplaceable - your data, or the operating system 
files?
 
For further discussions of of why logging in as root is not a problem 
and is in fact safer than what you think, please visit the following:
 
     Fear Not Root
https://igurublog.wordpress.com/2010/01/16/fear-not-root/
 
 
     Multiuser support in Puppy
 
[...snip...]

 ad altri s.o.?
 
Direi di sì, quello che sta dicendo è che su Puppy esegui login di root 
ma i programmi girano come utente unprivileged.
 
Se invece sei una macchina "tradizionale", lanci tutti i servizi che 
trovi come root e per buona misura ci aggiungi due eggdrop per 
parcheggiarti i nick su IRC allora non vale più, perché hai cambiato 
l'assunto inziale che fa Puppy.
 
 
-- 
Andrea
 

 l'assunto inziale che fa Puppy.
 
Assunto iniziale che vale in particolare per FatDog64, il Puppy ciccione :)
 
"A fork of Puppy, FatDog64, features all Internet applications running 
as spot."
http://puppylinux.com/technical/root.htm
 
 
 


 
-- 
Lex Tutor
L'Asilo Infantile di Bofhland® è un argomento che sarà oggetto
di un libro di prossima pubblicazione, quindi sto discutendo
di una questione che mi interessa per finalità di ricerca