LinuxQuestions.org
Help answer threads with 0 replies.
Home Forums Tutorials Articles Register
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Security
User Name
Password
Linux - Security This forum is for all security related questions.
Questions, tips, system compromises, firewalls, etc. are all included here.

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 01-30-2008, 06:36 AM   #1
vdx
Member
 
Registered: Aug 2007
Location: The Greate INDIA
Distribution: CentOS, RHEL, Fedora
Posts: 102

Rep: Reputation: 24
Cool lock root user


helo frnds...

I am using Fedora 6.

I am unable to lock screen wen logged in as root user.

any idea !! How can I lock root user screen ??

 
Old 01-30-2008, 07:42 AM   #2
unSpawn
Moderator
 
Registered: May 2001
Posts: 29,415
Blog Entries: 55

Rep: Reputation: 3600Reputation: 3600Reputation: 3600Reputation: 3600Reputation: 3600Reputation: 3600Reputation: 3600Reputation: 3600Reputation: 3600Reputation: 3600Reputation: 3600
Three things really and in your case the items related to Linux Security are 0 and 1:
0. you should upgrade FC6 to F7 to F8 real soon. AFAIK FC6 is off the support list,
1. you should not use any services as root account user,
2. there is no output shown so we don't know what or how you use whatever it is you use.
 
Old 01-30-2008, 07:44 AM   #3
Matir
LQ Guru
 
Registered: Nov 2004
Location: San Jose, CA
Distribution: Debian, Arch
Posts: 8,507

Rep: Reputation: 128Reputation: 128
From the X Screensaver FAQ: (http://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/faq.html#root-lock)
Quote:
When I'm logged in as root, xscreensaver won't lock my screen!

Don't log in as root.

Please note that xscreensaver works fine as a screen saver when you are logged in as root: it will not, however, lock your screen when you are logged in as root. This is for good and insurmountable security reasons.

In order for it to be safe for xscreensaver to be launched by xdm, certain precautions had to be taken, among them that xscreensaver never runs as root. In particular, if it is launched as root (as xdm is likely to do), xscreensaver will disavow its privileges, and switch itself to a safe user id (such as "nobody".)

An implication of this is that if you log in as root on the console, xscreensaver will refuse to lock the screen (because it can't tell the difference between root being logged in on the console, and a normal user being logged in on the console but xscreensaver having been launched by the xdm "Xsetup" file.)

The solution to this is simple: you shouldn't be logging in on the console as root in the first place! (What, are you crazy or something?)

Proper Unix hygiene dictates that you should log in as yourself, and su to root as necessary. People who spend their day logged in as root are just begging for disaster.
 
Old 01-30-2008, 08:04 AM   #4
unixfool
Member
 
Registered: May 2005
Location: Northern VA
Distribution: Slackware, Ubuntu, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, OS X
Posts: 782
Blog Entries: 8

Rep: Reputation: 158Reputation: 158
Quote:
Originally Posted by vdx View Post
helo frnds...

I am using Fedora 6.

I am unable to lock screen wen logged in as root user.

any idea !! How can I lock root user screen ??

This is probably a fail-safe, as you shouldn't be using the root account extensively anyways.

EDIT: that's what I get for going AFK for a few min...I got beat to the punch!

Last edited by unixfool; 01-30-2008 at 08:05 AM.
 
Old 01-30-2008, 09:54 PM   #5
abhi_mattur
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Oct 2007
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 20

Rep: Reputation: 0
locking the screen

hi,
Check out this

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Security-HOWTO...ty.html#AEN234
 
  


Reply



Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
i loggedin as root but cant lock screen WHY ? farnaw4u Linux - Security 5 05-28-2007 08:47 AM
lock user WRXSTi SUSE / openSUSE 1 12-23-2005 01:11 AM
How do I lock GUi as root? lisoftware Linux - Software 1 01-27-2005 11:18 PM
lock the screen as a root user? zstingx Linux - General 3 10-28-2003 03:10 AM
How to lock user in /home/user herc Linux - Software 3 09-15-2003 11:50 AM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Security

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:54 PM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration