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-
- 1000
- DUPLICATE UID
-
- UNIX will give full access permissions between all accounts with the same
- userid. While just a few main system accounts often have the same userid
- (most often userid number zero), and a few system utility software
- applications employ the same userid (such as "enlighten" and its daemon
- "enlmd"), for security reasons in general no other accounts should share
- userid's.
-
- From the User Configuration Screen, sort the output by userid. For each set
- of duplicate userid's that you wish to change, select the ones you wish to
- alter, and hit Modify to obtain the detail window. Change the userid in the
- detail window and hit Modify.
-
- Alternatively, request Delete from the User Configuration Screen for
- duplicate userid accounts which are out-of-date.
-
- 1010
- DUPLICATE USERNAME
-
- UNIX will only allow the first account found with a given username to log
- into the system. When there are duplicate accounts, the prevailing account
- is determined by its physical placement in the /etc/passwd file. To
- determine which account has been taking precedence, first request the User
- Configuration Screen, do NOT sort the list so that the physical order
- remains, but use the "Search List" button to find the given user name. The
- first one selected is the account taking precedence. You can then perform
- Modify or Delete actions against the other accounts.
-
- From the User Configuration Screen, sort the output by username. For each
- set of duplicate user names that you wish to change, select the ones you
- wish to alter, and hit Modify to obtain the detail window. Change the
- username in the detail window and hit Modify.
-
- Alternatively, request Delete from the User Configuration Screen for
- duplicate userid accounts which are out-of-date.
-
- 1020
- VULNERABLE DIRECTORIES
-
- Home directories which are writable by users other than the owner are
- subject to Trojan Horse programs that general users can create. They also
- might have possibly sensitive information in files that are likely allowed
- to be overwritten by non-owning users.
-
- Keep up the Wizard Screen for reference while you access the File Search
- Screen. Unless you know that all home directories are on specific
- partitions, select all partitions for searching. Enter the file names
- reported from the Wizard Screen into the "Find Filenames like:" field, with
- a space between each one. Request "Execute Search".
-
- For each of the files and directories found, select the given file, and
- request "chmod" or "chown" as required, according the problem reported by
- the Wizard check. The files reported having a potential problem should
- generally have the (chmod) file permissions 750 and be owned by the user
- logging in to that directory.
-
- 1030
- EASY PASSWORDS
-
- Accounts with highly obvious passwords mean that the possibility of a
- security breach is relatively high. Novices often choose passwords which are
- mirrors of their available account information, and "crackers" will try
- these types of passwords to gain easy and apparently proper access to your
- system. Such access is difficult to trace since it's done through normal
- channels.
-
- Keep up the Wizard Screen for reference while you access the User
- Configuration Screen. Sort the list by username for easy searches. Select
- the users referenced in the Wizard Screen.
-
- To change their passwords immediately, hit the "Password" button. You can
- then give each user an unique password and hit "Apply", calling the users
- directly to inform them.
-
- Alternatively, you could request "Lock" against these users, which would
- suspend login access to their accounts. When the users call in to get help
- in logging in, you can then assign a reasonable password.
-
- Alternatively, you could just request the "Mail" button to select a form
- letter to inform the selected users of their vulnerable state, and to change
- their password immediately. You should re-check the state of their passwords
- soon afterward.
-
- 1100
- FULL DISKS
-
- The Full Disk test is a check for those file systems which have at least 95%
- of usable space allocated. For smaller and more volatile partitions, the
- probability of overriding the maximum space allocation is high, and can
- cause severe system problems.
-
- From the Session Preferences item in the Config menu, request a "Long
- listing" for the "File list format".
-
- Using the File Search item from the Disk menu, select the partitions which
- the Wizard Screen reported as full. It might be wise at this point to also
- request "Rebuild" of the disk snapshots, to assure that the information is
- up-to-date. Click on "Search Parameters" to obtain the query entry screen.
-
- Enter a criteria to search for large files in the first field of the "File
- Size between" category (begin with a size of at least 1MB, and reduce the
- criteria as necessary for subsequent searches). Click on "Execute Search".
-
- Sort the resulting File Systems Detail list by descending file size. At the
- top of the list are those files which would produce the greatest effect if
- compressed or removed. To further focus on available candidates, select the
- files and request "Stats". Those files which have not been modified or
- accessed in a long time are most likely not to be missed if removed.
-
- Directly from the File Systems Detail Screen, either apply file compression
- (using the "Custom" button) or Delete (possibly requesting "Backup"
- beforehand) to the files you choose. You might wish to note the owning
- users and send mail regarding your actions.
-
- 1110
- SETUID PROGRAMS
-
- Programs which are known in UNIX as "set-uid" are those programs and scripts
- which run AS IF the user who invoked the program was the same as the actual
- owner of the program. The most often set-uid mode programs are those which
- require specialized, highly controlled access to data. Such programs include
- vendor "database traffic" programs, and programs which users call to modify
- critical personal systems data (such as the password modification routine).
- Due to the heightened access of these types of programs (often the owner is
- user "root"), it is wise to keep an eye on them; they should be few in
- number, and remain static.
-
- Checks are made to make sure that setuid programs are found in systems
- directories. Certain applications, however, which do not have their binaries
- loaded in a system directory may require that they have setuid mode. The
- administrator should check the list for any anomalies such as files with
- strange names, and files found in user's HOME directories.
-
- Checks are also made for world writability of a setuid mode file. The danger
- exists that an otherwise legitimate setuid program with world write
- permissions could be replaced with a (e.g.) a Trojan horse type program,
- which when executed could be the source of a major security hole. Before
- changing any permissions, please check it's validity with (e.g.) the
- software vendor from whom you purchased the software.
-
- Keep up the Wizard Screen for reference while you access the File Search
- Screen. Unless you know that all the files are on specific partitions,
- select all partitions for searching. Enter the file names reported from the
- Wizard Screen into the "Find Filenames like:" field, with a space between
- each one. Request "Execute Search", and select the whole list.
-
- Request "Stats" to look at the detailed information on each file. Note any
- oddities, such as odd names or, an unknown user or group name; this
- information might become useful later when tracing the source of errant
- files.
-
- If you come upon files that shouldn't have set-uid permission mode, then
- request "Delete" or "chmod" against them.
-
- 1120
- DEVICES NOT IN "/dev/"
-
- UNIX device files are used as interfaces to the system hardware. By using
- devices one can get access to (e.g.) the hard disk and kernel memory. Such
- devices are required on the system but they should always be found in the
- "/dev" directory with the appropriate protection mode. It is rare that a
- device is required outside of the "/dev" directory and one outside this
- directory is often a security breach.
-
- Keep up the Wizard Screen for reference while you access the File Search
- Screen. Find files of type "Block Special" and "Character Special", and Skip
- Filenames like "/dev/*". The files found in the resulting search should be
- carefully scrutinized. Try to determine who created them and for what
- purpose. One might want to delete them or, change their ownership to root
- and their permissions to 700.
-
- On some UNIX 5.4 systems, such as SOLARIS 2.x, a secondary device directory
- "/devices" exists. This directory, if on a UNIX 5.4 system, is considered to
- be a legal repository for device files. Consequently, in the File Search,
- filename like "/devices/*" should also be skipped.
-
- 1130
- SYSTEM EXECUTABLES
-
- UNIX requires a set of specialized programs that perform the bulk of the
- system's maintenance and operation. These programs have access to extremely
- sensitive areas of system data. Protecting these files from unauthorized
- access is important to the health of the system.
-
- Keep up the Wizard Screen for reference while you access the File Search
- Screen. Unless you know that all the files are on specific partitions,
- select all partitions for searching. Enter the file names reported from the
- Wizard Screen into the "Find Filenames like:" field, with a space between
- each one. Request "Execute Search", and select the whole list.
-
- Request "Stats" to look at the detailed information on each file. Note any
- oddities, such as an unknown user or group name, changes in size, and other
- information. This information might become useful later when tracing the
- source of errant files.
-
- If you have not updated the operating system since the time of the basis
- snapshot, and yet the File Stats Detail Screen shows alteration of any
- critical system executable, then take action immediately. For changes in
- permission or ownership, reset these files back to the original settings
- using the Disk File Detail Screen. For changes in size, it might be wise to
- rename the program for later study, replacing it with a known "pristine"
- copy of the program.
-
- 1200
- DOWN PRINTERS
-
- Printers considered "Down" are those for which the printer queue is
- currently disabled. A particular print queue being disabled might be a
- desirable state, especially for the case of a printer with multiple print
- queues that can handle only one paper tray, but requires different paper
- depending on the type of print queue. This Wizard report is only an
- indication that something might be wrong with the printer.
-
- Keep up the Wizard Screen for reference while you access the Configure
- option in the Printer menu. For those printers which you feel should be
- active, select them and choose "Enable".
-
- If a printer cannot be permanently enabled, check the physical printer and
- its connections for problems.
-
- 1210
- LONG PRINT QUEUES
-
- Long printer queues occur for a variety of reasons, but are due in most
- cases to either a disabled print queue or extremely long print jobs.
-
- Keep up the Wizard Screen for reference while you access the Configure
- option in the Printer menu. Check the status of those printers which the
- Wizard check declared to have long queues.
-
- For those print queues which are inactive ("Disabled"), select them and
- request "Enable" (as long as you know that the queue is not sharing a
- printer with another active but incompatible queue). If the printer does not
- restart, check the physical printer and its connections.
-
- For those print queues which are active ("Enabled"), select them and request
- "Jobs" to view the queued print requests and determine if they are causing a
- backup. For multiple large pending jobs, you can request "Move" to transfer
- some pending jobs to another compatible print queue.
-
- 1220
- LARGE PRINT JOBS
-
- Large print jobs are common, but the question in a production environment is
- really over when it is appropriate to actually print them. Bottlenecks to
- many users' productivity can occur if just one user prints massive database
- queries or images.
-
- Keep up the Wizard Screen for reference while you access the Queue option in
- the Printer menu. Choose print jobs you feel are inappropriate and either
- "Cancel" them or "Move" them to other unburdened or disabled print queues
- for later printing.
-
- If a current job must finish, then you could instead select the reasonable
- jobs and request "Move" to transfer them to another compatible, active print
- queue. Inform the users of the move so they know where to obtain their
- printouts.
-
- 1300
- SERVERS UP
-
- The Server test is accomplished by connecting to a common network-available
- facility on the targeted hosts. If the connection is not accomplished, then
- the server is considered "down". This might not actually be the case; the
- server's daemon which enables the network connection might have died, and
- may need to be restarted (this situation is improbable but still possible).
-
- Try alternative methods to connect to the server, especially rlogin, rsh or
- telnet. If these do not work, check the physical connections and the console
- of the server itself.
-
- 1310
- SWAP SPACE
-
- UNIX requires "swap space" to temporarily house process information when
- programs exceed the available memory resources of the system. The method of
- storing this information, and its burden on the system, differs widely
- between vendors. There are "rules of thumb" for estimating the resources
- required, but only through experience can an administrator gain enough
- knowledge to accurately configure a system. Results from exceeding swap
- allocation can be difficult to trace; often recently started processes seem
- to just disappear without warning. Using the Enlighten Wizard check, the
- administrator can get some idea of allocation problems.
-
- When swap space is reportedly low according to the Wizard test, request
- "Process Status" from the User/Activity Monitor menu. (You can also request
- either a User or System-TTY CPU Summary to review a smaller set of data).
-
- Sort the resulting screen by descending memory usage. The result are the
- most likely swap space hogs rising to the top of the list.
-
- Check the list for commands (located at the far right) that are either
- unnecessary or inappropriate (such as games). Select these processes and
- request "Terminate" to free their resources.
-
- Recheck the swap space through Wizard, and take further action as required.
-
- 1400
- HOST ADDRESS CONFLICT
-
- The hosts database, which contains a list of known hosts and their
- associated IP addresses, has been tested for host names which are associated
- with more than one IP address.
-
- For host names which are found to have more than one IP address associated
- with them, you must decide which address is the correct one. You can then
- use the Host Configuration menu to modify the selected host entries. Either
- modify the selected host entries to have the proper address, or copy the
- correct address to each host which has an incorrect address.
-
- Run the Enlighten Expert on a regular basis to check for host address
- conflicts.
-
- 1410
- HOST NAME CONFLICT
-
- The hosts database, which contains a list of known hosts and their
- associated IP addresses, has been tested for host IP addresses which are
- associated with more than one host name.
-
- For host IP addresses which are found to have more than one host name
- associated with them, you must decide which host name is the correct one.
- You can then use the Host Configuration menu to modify the selected host
- entries. Either modify the selected host entries to have the proper name, or
- copy the correct host name to each host which has an incorrect name.
-
- Run the Enlighten Expert on a regular basis to check for host name
- conflicts.
-
- 1420
- HOST ALIAS CONFLICT
-
- The hosts database, which contains a list of known hosts and their
- associated IP addresses, has been tested for host aliases which are
- associated with more than one host name.
-
- For host aliases which are found to have more than one host name associated
- with them, you must decide which host has the right to use the given alias.
- You can then use the Host Configuration menu to modify the selected host
- entries. For example, modify the selected host entries to have the proper
- alias.
-
- Run the Enlighten Expert on a regular basis to check for host alias
- conflicts.
-