what should /usr/sbin/sendmail be chmoded to?

ShawnD · 08-22-2002, 08:25 PM

apache is started as root but it runs as 'nobody' so that got me to thinkin. if i log in as shawnd and type "sendmail" it says there is no such program but if i type "/usr/sbin/sendmail" it tells me 'you do not have access'

up until now i have been using SMTP for my forum so i haven't really tested sendmail before and right now my internet is down (posting this from friend's house) so i can't really test it right now. currently, sendmail is chmoded so that the owner (root) can rwx, group can x, other can x

crabboy · 08-22-2002, 09:16 PM

Why don't you want sendmail to run as root. Sendmail needs to access mail files for each user and is the only user that can access these files yet keep them secure from other users.

ShawnD · 08-23-2002, 12:51 PM

but apache runs as 'nobody' or 'nouser'
if i had apache run as root and i had a shotty PHP script, a smart kid could completely destroy my computer. things like forums have 'user defined' templates as well as a notepad and the ability to post messages which SAVES FILES on my hard drive but NOT in a database.....i can't think of a way a kid could do it but if the forum is saving files as root, there is probably a way it could be exploided to overwrite critical files such as /etc/passwd or /etc/shadow

keevitaja · 08-23-2002, 12:57 PM

thats startge or just different distros. my sendmail runs under root and apache is apache...