Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ames!bionet!agate!shelby!MIT.EDU!jon From: jon@MIT.EDU (Jon A. Rochlis) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kerberos Subject: Re: Why is initial user authentication done the way it is? Message-ID: <9006141917.AA19640@delwin.MIT.EDU> Date: 14 Jun 90 19:17:51 GMT References: <9006141836.AA11688@dduck.ctt.bellcore.com> Sender: daemon@shelby.Stanford.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 15 You have this vulnerability with the current Kerberos TGT request protocol if you configure your login program to use the reply from Kerberos rather than the password in /etc/passwd for authentication. The workstation needs some way of knowing that it is talking to the real Kerberos. It could use it's secret (in /etc/srvtab) for this purpose (requiring a change in the TGT request protocol. Making use of the TGT so a workstation knows it's not been spoofed by a fake KDC is quite reasonable, *if* the workstation has a secret (i.e. a srvtab). It doesn't work well in a public workstation model, where there are no secrets on workstations. -- Jon