dtrace discuss - Mar 2010 - DTrace security and user usage

A question came up today about how much it would be a security risk to give
DBA''s pprivs to all of the DTrace layers (basic, dtrace_user,
dtrace_proc).  It is my understanding this is not much of a security risk and
could not be detrimental to the system as a whole.  I welcome comments about
this.


Paul

Please contact me professionally at LinkedIn.  
 		 	   		  
_________________________________________________________________
Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. Get Windows Live Hotmail Free.
http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469229/direct/01/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
<http://mail.opensolaris.org/pipermail/dtrace-discuss/attachments/20100303/d5bb5ed0/attachment.html>

Hi Paul,

Is dtrace_kernel under consideration? It potentially allows some leaks 
by letting a user observe a significant chunk of the kernel''s state,
but
I know of no security holes from dtrace_user and dtrace_proc unless 
people share userids (which opens up all kinds of other problems anyway).

Maybe an expert on the list can give a more definitive answer, though... 
everyone in my group at work has root access so dtrace_* privileges are 
moot from a security standpoint.

Regards,
Ryan


On 3/4/2010 5:00 AM, Paul Anderson wrote:
> A question came up today about how much it would be a security risk to 
> give DBA''s pprivs to all of the DTrace layers (basic, dtrace_user,
> dtrace_proc).  It is my understanding this is not much of a security 
> risk and could not be detrimental to the system as a whole.  I welcome 
> comments about this.
>
>
> Paul
>
> Please contact me professionally at LinkedIn.
> Linkedin <http://www.linkedin.com/pub/paul-anderson/5/800/677>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. Get Windows Live Hotmail Free. Sign up 
> now. <http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469229/direct/01/>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> dtrace-discuss mailing list
> dtrace-discuss at opensolaris.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL:
<http://mail.opensolaris.org/pipermail/dtrace-discuss/attachments/20100304/ff10c303/attachment-0001.html>

>Hi Paul,
>
>Is dtrace_kernel under consideration? It potentially allows some leaks 
>by letting a user observe a significant chunk of the kernel''s
state, but
>I know of no security holes from dtrace_user and dtrace_proc unless 
>people share userids (which opens up all kinds of other problems anyway).
>
>Maybe an expert on the list can give a more definitive answer, though... 
>everyone in my group at work has root access so dtrace_* privileges are 
>moot from a security standpoint.

dtrace_kernel allows you to read all input/output to ttys, including 
passwords.

Casper