Penetration Testing mailing list archives

Re: Howto strace apache as nobody/apache user?


From: "David M. Zendzian" <dmz () dmzs com>
Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 20:06:48 -0000

What about just running strace with "-p" to trace a running process. You may
want to turn down the # of running servers to 1 so you can montor the active
one, or setup an strace for each process.

dmz

Rizki Wicaksono <rizki.wicaksono () gmail com> said:

Hi List,

Does anyone know how to strace/ktrace-ing apache httpd server as
nobody/apache user ? Apache initially starting as root then it forks
into many process after leaving its root credentials, usually being
apache or nobody (depends on httpd.conf). So, by theory if I could be
apache/nobody user, I will be able to strace/ktrace-ing any process
that owned by apache/nobody user.

So i put small cmd.php shell to do that. With this simple code:
<pre><? passthru($_GET['cmd']); ?></pre>

Using my browser pointing to http://localhost/cmd.php?cmd=id, confirm
that it has apache credentials. After reading the output of ps aux
(http://localhost/cmd.php?cmd=ps aux), i chose one process id of httpd
owned by apache to test. When I try using URL
http://localhost/cmd.php?cmd=strace -p apache_pid 2>/tmp/err, I got
operation not permitted error. The same happen to freebsd box using
ktrace command.

Is this a security feature of apache or what?

Thanks before
- Rizki Wicaksono -

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    David M. Zendzian * dmz () dmzs com 
  (415) 867-7812 - phone  ||  (510) 549-9187 - fax
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Concerned about Web Application Security? 
Why not go with the #1 solution - Cenzic, the only one to win the Analyst's 
Choice Award from eWeek. As attacks through web applications continue to rise, 
you need to proactively protect your applications from hackers. Cenzic has the 
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testing and vulnerability management needs. You have an option to go with a 
managed service (Cenzic ClickToSecure) or an enterprise software 
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