> Config files are not typically world-readable; the httpd reads them before dropping permissions. Otherwise, a vulnerability in the httpd would allow access to

> Config files are not typically world-readable; the httpd reads them before dropping permissions. Otherwise, a vulnerability in the httpd would allow access to everything in the config (remote server passwords, signing keys, etc). I think you give people way too much credit. Maybe config files aren't "typically" world-readable but they ARE typically httpd-readable. It's a mistake to assume, that because you might follow best-practices, the rest of the people out there do. You said yourself in a comment on this same post that many people make mistakes because they're too lazy to take that "half an hour of research." Let's make the assumption that that is typical. > There's no reason why compromising the database would allow attackers into the web server, unless you've configured SSH to allow signing in from arbitrary remote systems. Oh, you mean the default behavior? See above.