Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcsun!unido!quando!omerzu
From: omerzu@quando.quantum.de (Thomas Omerzu)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: How to prevent VI from getting a shell?
Summary: not this way!
Message-ID: <1716@quando.quantum.de>
Date: 17 Sep 90 13:44:36 GMT
References: <501@trux.UUCP> <570@DIALix.UUCP>
Reply-To: omerzu@quando.quantum.de (Thomas Omerzu)
Organization: Quantum GmbH, Dortmund, W-Germany
Lines: 34


In article <570@DIALix.UUCP> bernie@DIALix.oz.au (Bernd Felsche) writes:

>In article <501@trux.UUCP> car@trux.UUCP (Chris Rende) writes:
>>If I want to give someone access to VI and yet deny them access to a shell,
>>how do I prevent the user from using VI's "<ESC>:!" command?
>
>set SHELL in the environment to something which doest nothing, say
>/bin/true.  vi forks-execs whatever SHELL is defined to be, or the
>shell if undefined.

NO!

Although this will work for many applications,
it won't work for vi!

If you 'set SHELL /bin/true' the user will not be able to get
a shell, that's true.
BUT: THIS DOES NOT PREVENT THE USER FROM RESETTING THE SHEL VARIABLE!

If that user does a: ':set shell /bin/sh'
he _will_ get a shell on further requests!!!


So long,
	Thomas.



-- 
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Thomas Omerzu      UUCP:     ...!unido!quando!omerzu / omerzu@quando.uucp
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