Re: /dev/{km,m}em worries

[rjq () phys ksu edu (Rob Quinn)]

> What exactly are the problems with having /dev/mem and /dev/kmem readable
> by other? Is there any way in which our systems can be exploited by 
> this?

 Some solbourne's on campus shipped with world readable /dev/drum files, which
are similar. I was able to snarf the shadow password file by running
`strings|grep' in one window while changing my password a few times in another
window. Just use a grep pattern that will match lines containing :'s.

> For the record, isis is a sun4m (two processors) and janus is a sun4c,
> both running SunOS 4.1.3. Is there anything I can be watchful of, to make
> sure that we haven't been compromised?

 Well, you might go through some old backups and see if the perms have always
been that way. It won't tell you if you've been compromised, but it might
indicate someone broke in and left a backdoor. I mean, it won't show that
you're safe, but it might show that you're unsafe.

-- 
| let's all be different                                                   |
| just like me                                                   Rob Quinn |
|                                                         rjq () phys ksu edu |
|                                                    QuinnBob@KSUVM.BITNET |