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Re: Adding /bin/false to /etc/shells



"L.W. van Braam van Vloten" <lucas2@dds.nl> writes:

> Hello group,
>
> Is there any objection against adding /bin/false to the file
> /etc/shells? Most notably, are there any security considerations?

It's common to use /bin/false for users who can't log in, and that
usually includes blocking access to FTP, so it might be a surprise to
a future admin who adds a user with a shell of /bin/false to find that
this user can actually log in to FTP.

A common technique which is probably better is to set the shell to
something like "/bin/ftponly", and either make that a symlink to
/bin/false or else just leave it nonexistent.  Nobody will be
surprised that a user with a shell of "/bin/ftponly" can log in to
FTP, and the user still won't be able to log in to a shell.

----Scott.



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