Even though
semprini's write-up was not intended as a "
How to Hack Into a Computer" lesson, he's brought up two security issues in
Linux that could potentially cause you (as a Linux user, right?) problems. This write-up will hopefully help you guard yourself from the aforementioned
script kiddies.
The first method he mentioned, using
"linux 1" at the
LILO prompt, will also work with using
"linux single" at the LILO prompt. The only real way to stop people using this method on your
box, if you are running a
vulnerable system, is to
password protect linux single.
- Open your favourite editor (such as vi) and open /etc/LILO.conf
(00100 points out that this may be /etc/lilo.conf on some distributions - e.g. his Red Hat 7.1 dist. - and reminds us that unix filenames are case-sensitive)
- Add a new line, after the first line, and type Restricted blog, where "blog" is the password you wish to use to restrict it.
- Type lilo at the prompt, to execute the /etc/LILO.conf file.
Now, if anyone tries to use
linux single or
linux 1 to get into
root on your box, they will need this password, but otherwise this change should in no way change the functioning of your box.