Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!hsdndev!think.com!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!aplcomm!uunet!mcsun!ukc!vision!chris From: chris@visionware.co.uk (Chris Davies) Newsgroups: comp.admin.policy Subject: Re: SUSPEND SYSOPS, NOT STUDENTS Message-ID: <1991Jun17.161111.9770@visionware.co.uk> Date: 17 Jun 91 16:11:11 GMT References: <20740@slice.ooc.uva.nl> Organization: VisionWare Ltd., Leeds, UK Lines: 16 In article <20740@slice.ooc.uva.nl> ropg@ooc.uva.nl (Rop Gonggrijp) writes: >If a password-guesser without a stadium full of supercomputers finds the root >password, something is very wrong with system security, and any user on the >system could become root. If however the system-operator runs something like >COPS every once in a while there is no problem, even if the password-file is >put on misc.misc, distribution world. So I shouldn't let people even compile C programs (or use perl?) on certain UNIX boxes, because of the bug(s) which allow Jane Public to become root with a one-line program? Chris -- VISIONWARE LTD, 57 Cardigan Lane, LEEDS LS4 2LE, England Tel +44 532 788858. Fax +44 532 304676. Email chris@visionware.co.uk -------------- "VisionWare: The home of DOS/UNIX/X integration" -------------