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UNIX is built as a multi-user operating system. You may not use that ability very much, but there's a reason the operating system was built this way and there'
by djcapelis 13y ago
UNIX is built as a multi-user operating system. You may not use that ability very much, but there's a reason the operating system was built this way and there's a reason these things work the way they do. It is completely valid to point that out.
You're free to say you don't care, but it isn't really valid to brush aside the point by pretending a security model that's there for a reason isn't there.
Also it isn't uncommon at all for an attacker on a server to get access to a regular account and not a root account in their initial vector. It is often too easy to escalate, but do you really want to help them out more?
- fragsworth 13y agoIn fairness, multi-user linux systems have been losing popularity for a long time, with KVM/xen-based VPS services taking over for having significant advantages in security and software compatibility. A young software engineer in today's environment can easily never have any exposure to a truly multi-user OS.
- akl 13y agoI think you're misunderstanding - GNU/Linux is a multi-user OS regardless of if it is run in a kvm/xen/etc container or on bare metal. Even if only one person (or no persons) ever log in, the machine is capable of running processes under multiple users and it is best practice to maintain this so that all users do not share the same level of privilege.
- cdcarter 13y agoYes, but he's noting that a younger engineer may have never encountered a system with multiple users, so wouldn't think that being able to open a privileged port is more terrifying than being able to spin up netcat on 10032.
- djcapelis 13y agoThis is absolutely true. But unless people have started to also run their webapps and other daemons as root, the boundaries still cling to relevancy. But maybe I just miss computers where finger, write, wall and talk were all useful commands. And people say things are more social now? The growth of hypervisors made our operating systems desolate and lonely! :)