RSHD
Section: Maintenance Commands (8)
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BSD mandoc
BSD 4.2
NAME
rshd
- remote shell server
SYNOPSIS
rshd
[-alnL
]
DESCRIPTION
The
rshd
server
is the server for the
rcmd(3)
routine and, consequently, for the
rsh(1)
program. The server provides remote execution facilities
with authentication based on privileged port numbers from trusted hosts.
The
rshd
server
listens for service requests at the port indicated in
the ``cmd'' service specification; see
services(5).
When a service request is received the following protocol
is initiated:
-
The server checks the client's source port.
If the port is not in the range 512-1023, the server
aborts the connection.
-
The server reads characters from the socket up
to a null (`\0') byte. The resultant string is
interpreted as an
ASCII
number, base 10.
-
If the number received in step 2 is non-zero,
it is interpreted as the port number of a secondary
stream to be used for the
stderr
A second connection is then created to the specified
port on the client's machine. The source port of this
second connection is also in the range 512-1023.
-
The server checks the client's source address
and requests the corresponding host name (see
gethostbyaddr(3),
hosts(5)
and
named(8)).
If the hostname cannot be determined,
the dot-notation representation of the host address is used.
If the hostname is in the same domain as the server (according to
the last two components of the domain name),
or if the
-a
option is given,
the addresses for the hostname are requested,
verifying that the name and address correspond.
If address verification fails, the connection is aborted
with the message, ``Host address mismatch.''
-
A null terminated user name of at most 16 characters
is retrieved on the initial socket. This user name
is interpreted as the user identity on the
client 's
machine.
-
A null terminated user name of at most 16 characters
is retrieved on the initial socket. This user name
is interpreted as a user identity to use on the
server 's
machine.
-
A null terminated command to be passed to a
shell is retrieved on the initial socket. The length of
the command is limited by the upper bound on the size of
the system's argument list.
-
Rshd
then validates the user using
ruserok(3),
which uses the file
/etc/hosts.equiv
and the
.rhosts
file found in the user's home directory. The
-l
option prevents
ruserok(3)
from doing any validation based on the user's ``.rhosts'' file,
unless the user is the superuser.
-
If the file
/etc/nologin
exists and the user is not the superuser,
the connection is closed.
The name of the nologin file may be overridden
using the nologin= capability in login.conf
according to the local user's login class,
which may also be used to restrict rsh access by
login time (times.allow and times.deny capabilities)
and remote host (hosts.allow and hosts.deny capabilities).
-
A null byte is returned on the initial socket
and the command line is passed to the normal login
shell of the user. The
shell inherits the network connections established
by
rshd
Transport-level keepalive messages are enabled unless the
-n
option is present.
The use of keepalive messages allows sessions to be timed out
if the client crashes or becomes unreachable.
The
-L
option causes all successful accesses to be logged to
syslogd(8)
as
auth.info
messages.
DIAGNOSTICS
Except for the last one listed below,
all diagnostic messages
are returned on the initial socket,
after which any network connections are closed.
An error is indicated by a leading byte with a value of
1 (0 is returned in step 10 above upon successful completion
of all the steps prior to the execution of the login shell).
- Locuser too long.
-
The name of the user on the client's machine is
longer than 16 characters.
- Ruser too long.
-
The name of the user on the remote machine is
longer than 16 characters.
- Command too long
-
The command line passed exceeds the size of the argument
list (as configured into the system).
- Login incorrect.
-
No password file entry for the user name existed.
- Remote directory.
-
The
chdir
command to the home directory failed.
- Permission denied.
-
The authentication procedure described above failed.
- Logins not available right now.
-
Rsh was attempted outside the allowed hours defined in
login.conf for the local user's login class.
- Can't make pipe.
-
The pipe needed for the
stderr
wasn't created.
- Can't fork; try again.
-
A
fork
by the server failed.
- <shellname>: ...
-
The user's login shell could not be started. This message is returned
on the connection associated with the
stderr
and is not preceded by a flag byte.
SEE ALSO
rlogin(1),
rsh(1),
gethostbyaddr(3),
rcmd(3),
ruserok(3),
hosts(5),
login.conf5,
nologin(5),
services(5),
named(8),
rlogind(8),
syslogd(8).
FILES
- /etc/hosts
-
- /etc/hosts.equiv
-
- $HOME/.rhosts
-
- /etc/nologin
-
BUGS
The authentication procedure used here assumes the integrity
of each client machine and the connecting medium. This is
insecure, but is useful in an ``open'' environment.
A facility to allow all data exchanges to be encrypted should be
present.
A more extensible protocol (such as Telnet) should be used.
Index
- NAME
-
- SYNOPSIS
-
- DESCRIPTION
-
- DIAGNOSTICS
-
- SEE ALSO
-
- FILES
-
- BUGS
-
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Time: 03:08:38 GMT, January 13, 2023