34 ms·
The problem is not "this program can grant root privileges", it's that the setuid bit sucks. Linux processes inherit a lot of state from the parent which means
by dale_glass 2y ago
The problem is not "this program can grant root privileges", it's that the setuid bit sucks.
Linux processes inherit a lot of state from the parent which means it's absolute hell to make a secure setuid binary. And at any time the Linux kernel can add a new feature which will be inherited by a child process, but that the process can't defend against because it wasn't even a thing when the code was written.
Running a binary at all also goes through a complex set of initialization steps a lot of programmers barely know exist, let alone are able to understand fully.
- bandrami 2y agoSure, but your choices are running an on-demand binary suid root, or running a persistent daemon as root. Both have problems, but if you're going to switch users to root you have to do one of them.
- dale_glass 2y agoThe tool doesn't try to do away with root, it tries to do await with the setuid bit. Meaning, "running a persistent daemon as root" is the intentional solution, and presented as the significantly better option for good security.