Re: Command Line in OSX
Re: Command Line in OSX
- Subject: Re: Command Line in OSX
- From: John Kawakami <email@hidden>
- Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2001 14:02:35 -0800
on 3/25/01 10:07 AM, Timothy Bates at email@hidden wrote:
c. Let's not worry: We haven't for 20 years, why start now?
I agree with all the points you made. I was trying to make a statement
against using terminal.app so that you don't open yourself to *already
existing* UNIX exploits. In other words, most of the script kiddies which
may be out there could potentially use old stand-bys to hack a new OSX
system if you drop down into the OS. Just a thought and possible warning.
Greg Strange
This post isn't to harp on Greg, but to clarify some things about unix.
The command line shell is not some special mode of the OS. It's just
another application. It's one that happens to contain a programming
language that does not restrict you from running commands that mess
with everything. You can avert script-based attacks by eliminating
the command line (though you risk losing functionality of other apps
that run the shell to execute scripts).
AppleScript is fully capable of deleting important files, modifying
resources, etc. If the mac were more popular, there'd be a ton of AS
hacks out there.
If anything, OS X is safer than <= OS 9. That's because there is a
clear distinction between users and root users. There's (finally)
some file security, so scripts that run with user level security are
not able to modify files (or access resources) reserved for root
users.
--
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John Kawakami
email@hidden
Bush + Cocaine = Trouble.