Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 10:51:37 -0500 (EST) From: Robert Watson <rwatson@FreeBSD.ORG> To: Paul Richards <paul@freebsd-services.com> Cc: Wilko Bulte <wkb@freebie.xs4all.nl>, John Baldwin <jhb@FreeBSD.ORG>, cvs-committers@FreeBSD.ORG, cvs-all@FreeBSD.ORG, mini@haikugeek.com, Alfred Perlstein <bright@mu.org>, Mike Silbersack <silby@silby.com>, Mike Barcroft <mike@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: cvs commit: src/sys/boot/i386/loader version src/share/examp Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.3.96L.1011211104919.25006F-100000@fledge.watson.org> In-Reply-To: <806020000.1008083557@lobster.originative.co.uk>
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On Tue, 11 Dec 2001, Paul Richards wrote: > > Consoles and/or systems not kept under lock and key (physically I mean) > > are doomed anyway. Clear the CMOS passowrd (if set in the first place) and > > then boot from CD or floppy. Off you go.. > <snip> > > A box where the BIOS is passwd protected, and has been set to only allow > booting from the hard disk and where FreeBSD is configured to have a > secure console is pretty secure from a casual attack. You'd have to open > up the box and clear the CMOS and that sort of activity would be > difficult in most situations and certainly something that would be > noticed (we're not talking about sneaking into the server room late at > night here, we're talking about office/classroom/lab environments where > the admin is trying to protect the desktop systems from abuse). > > The loader change means that all that's necessary now is to power cycle > the box and stop in the boot loader and clear the root passwd. That's > something that can be done while sitting quite innocuously at the > console and not drawing any attention to oneself. One thing that might actually help, BTW, is if we had a "kiosk" section in the handbook, or in the FAQ. Document stuff like disabling ctrl-alt-delete, preventing the loader from listening to the human, locking the CPU in a box somewhere, ... There is, I think, a need to support that type of environment, but it's definitely not the standard server environment :-). Documenting these requirements and procedures would make it easier for developers not working in that environment to understand its limitations, and adapt their work to survive that environment better. Robert N M Watson FreeBSD Core Team, TrustedBSD Project robert@fledge.watson.org NAI Labs, Safeport Network Services To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe cvs-all" in the body of the message
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