On 15/08/2011 17:42, Chuck Swiger wrote: > On Aug 15, 2011, at 9:37 AM, Chris Brennan wrote: >> > It's been a while since I've had to do this and the drive that contained >> > all of my notes is dead, along with the backup (I was actually lucky to >> > recover my home drive before it also failed but my notes were not >> > there). I cannot for the life of me remember how to properly add an >> > unprivledged user that will only be used for running a specific system >> > service. So it doesn't need a login shell or $HOME.
> Add a user and set the shell to /bin/false or perhaps /sbin/nologin; for
> $HOME set it to /var/empty or /tmp, perhaps.
Good advice, except... for this sort of user that exists solely to run
various processes, generally it is preferable for them *not* to be able
to write to their home directory. Especially if the software concerned
is exposed to the internet.
The reasoning here is that if there is, say, a buffer overflow attack
against your software, then an attacker can remotely inject and run
various sorts of shell-code exploits. If they can change arbitrary
files in the accounts home directory, then they can relatively simply
get a login shell.
So, /tmp not a good idea. / is actually a pretty good choice, and
similarly /var/empty (which is specifically designed for this sort of
thing.)
Cheers,
Matthew
--
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 7 Priory Courtyard
Flat 3
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Ramsgate
JID: matt...@infracaninophile.co.uk Kent, CT11 9PW
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