Re: [TCLUG:12802] Security on /dev

[Jon Schewe <schewe@tcfreenet.org>]

Smith Jeremy <jrsmit2@uswest.com> writes:

> Does anyone know of any kind of documentation on what permissions on Linux
> devices should be?
> 
> I find myself needing to enable write access to various system devices in
> order to allow users to use applications (for instance adding write access
> to /dev/mixer in order to change the volume, or read access to /dev/hdc in
> order to use a CDROM player) but I'm somewhat uncomfortable with doing so
> for security purposes.  I can imagine that exploits can exist which use
> improperly configured devices, but on the other hand I want people to have
> that X, sound, and the ability to mount and unmount removable media.
> 
One thing to note if you're changing permissions in /dev.  /dev/zero MUST
be world writable otherwise things just won't run.

---
Jon Schewe
jpschewe@eggplant.mtu.net
http://eggplant.mtu.net/~jpschewe