Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site brl-tgr.ARPA
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!qantel!lll-crg!seismo!brl-tgr!gwyn
From: gwyn@brl-tgr.ARPA (Doug Gwyn <gwyn>)
Newsgroups: net.unix
Subject: Re: Sv.2 suid bits
Message-ID: <171@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 29-Nov-85 03:50:50 EST
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.171
Posted: Fri Nov 29 03:50:50 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 30-Nov-85 06:51:05 EST
References: <123@rexago1.UUCP> <28400002@ISM780B.UUCP>
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab
Lines: 11

> Suid bits don't work on shell scripts on Sys 3 or Sys 5, I suppose this is
> for security reasons.  As far as I know, they don't work on any AT&T UNIX.

Since the script is interpreted by the shell, and since the shell
does not run set-UID itself, of course you can't have set-UID
shell scripts.  For that to work, the kernel itself would have
to run the shell for you (as in 4.2BSD for #! magic numbers),
after establishing suitable privilege for it.

The shell was not designed with this usage in mind, so it has
numerous security loopholes.  Closing them all is a big task.