[CentOS] Changing a user's shell on CentOS Directory Server?

Bill Campbell

centos at celestial.com
Mon Jun 1 04:59:04 UTC 2009


On Sun, May 31, 2009, Matt Harrington wrote:
>Should unprivileged users be able to change their shell with lchsh on
>5.3 and, if it matters, CentOS Directory Server?  lchsh seems to
>require more open permissions than those which come with a default
>installation:

Personally I would not permit uses to change their shells, but
require appropriate admin privileges.  I have seen systems hacks
made via webmin or usermin where the user's shell was changed
from /bin/false to /bin/bash, then the account used to install
user-level bots that definately should not have been there.

Most of our customers are regional ISPs or small-to-medium
businesses where most user accounts have /bin/false as their
shells as the average user has no need for shell access.  Any
user who wants real shell access needs to ask specifically for
it, and, in the case of the ISPs, be known to the ISP as somebody
who isn't going to abuse or misuse the account, intentionally or
through simple ignorance.

Bill
-- 
INTERNET:   bill at celestial.com  Bill Campbell; Celestial Software LLC
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