Re: Embarrassing security bug in systemd
On Wed 06 Dec 2017 at 22:52:17 +0100, Urs Thuermann wrote:
> Yesterday, my 10 years old son logged into my laptop running Debian
> jessie using his account, and curiously asked if he is allowed to try
> the /sbin/reboot command. Knowing I have a Linux system as opposed to
> some crappy Win machine, I replied "sure, go ahead and try". Seconds
> later I was completely shocked when the machine actually rebooted...
>
> Of course, my son doesn't have any special privileges, no entry in
> /etc/sudoers, etc. But then I see
He is privileged because he has physical access to the machine.
>
> $ ls -l /sbin/reboot
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 Apr 8 2017 /sbin/reboot -> /bin/systemctl
> $ ls -l /bin/systemctl
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 538904 Apr 8 2017 /bin/systemctl
> $ dpkg -S /bin/systemctl
> systemd: /bin/systemctl
>
> The /bin/systemctl binary is not suid root, so I assume[1] it
> communicates to systemd which then reboots the machine without
> checking what user the request comes from.
>
> I wonder how can such a severe bug make it into a Debian stable
> distribution? And is this just an insane default setting on Debian's
> side or is it yet another instance of brain-dead systemd behavior?
A user with physical access to the machine can press the ON/OFF switch
or pull the plug out or switch to a terminal and do CTL+ALT+DEL. Which
one of these actions is a bug in Debian?
> Searching the man pages I couldn't find a way to fix this. How can
> that be stopped?
A cast-iron solution for stopping a user with physical access to a
machine from powering it off has been sought for ages.
--
Brian.
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