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[SOLVED] looking for advice with bash scripting
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chimeric
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Joined: 15 Feb 2007
Posts: 10
Location: Germany

PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:14 pm    Post subject: [SOLVED] looking for advice with bash scripting Reply with quote

Hi everybody,

first I`d like to say that I am new to the forum (though not new to gentoo, I use it on my main workstation for more than 2 years now and it`s by far the best distro I`ve ever seen :) ). I am currently working on a little bash backup script which uses dar and sshfs. This script should be as portable as possible as I want to use it on several machines. While thinking about it I questioned myself if it`s generally a good idea (or a good habit) to use the full path of the used programs in the script like:
Code:
/usr/bin/sshfs

Or is it better to put the program path in a variable using "which":
Code:
SSHFS=$(which sshfs)

(though I am unsure if this could result in a possible security issue on compromised machines)?

Or doesn`t it matter at all?

Thanks in Advance!


Last edited by chimeric on Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:39 pm; edited 1 time in total
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tuam
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Joined: 04 May 2004
Posts: 765
Location: CGN, Germany

PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The basic security issue is the following:
- script is setuid root: runs with root privileges
- cracker creates evil binary named sshfs somewhere in his home, makes it executable
- cracker modifies $PATH, so his home is searched first
- cracker runs script
:arrow: evil binary is run with root privileges

Possible solutions
- mount all dirs where cracker has write access with noexec :?
- hard-code paths

The idea of putting the path in a variable makes the script easier to maintain or port to other machines. So use SSHFS="/usr/bin/sshfs" at the beginniing of your script.

FF,

Daniel
_________________
Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. - Spock
The needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many. - Kirk
I refuse to let arithmetic decide questions like that. - Picard
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chimeric
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Joined: 15 Feb 2007
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Location: Germany

PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks tuam for your explanation!

Kind Regards
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