Question

Eliminate Root Login

Asked by: Hopper101

How do I configure my linux box to do the following

- Eliminate ability for root to login directly from outside of network
- Create a user account that requires ssh login and is allowed to su to root
- Require user to have ssh session to su to root

Thanks

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Asked On
2003-08-18 at 10:27:15ID20712856
Tags

root

,

eliminate

,

login

Topic

Linux Setup

Participating Experts
3
Points
50
Comments
8

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Answers

 

by: FuzZY_MOnStErPosted on 2003-08-18 at 13:53:27ID: 9176537

go to /etc/ssh directory find sshd_config file and edit it in it u will find PermitRootLogin directive set it to no, this will disallow root to login via ssh + u will fidn ohter cool directives u can use for ur ssh daemon.

Any user one it logs to machine can su to root ! su mean "substitute user".

to get root privileges once u have connected to remote machien via ssh type /bin/su it will prompt for password once u provide it u will be root !

 

by: paullamhkgPosted on 2003-08-18 at 19:35:40ID: 9178176

for eliminate root to login in ssh section FuzZy_MOnStEr already gave you the answer.

just add a suggestion on the user as root, instead of using su, have you thinking of sudo? Sudo (superuser do) allows a system administrator to give certain users (or groups of users) the ability to run some (or all) commands as root while logging all commands and arguments. Sudo operates on a per-command basis. It is not a replacement for the shell. Features include: the ability to restrict what commands a user may run on a per-host basis, copious logging of each command (providing a clear audit trail of who did what), a configurable timeout of the sudo command, and the ability to use the same configuration file (sudoers) on many different machines.

have a look on this http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/security-guide/s1-wstation-privileges.html

Although it from redhat, but can apply to other linux distro

 

by: CoralComPosted on 2003-09-15 at 06:51:30ID: 9362846

Depends on your distro, but there is an option in Slackware (and possibly Debian) under /etc/login.defs that deals with "SU_WHEEL_ONLY" or similar.  Change that to YES, and add yourself (your normal user) to the WHEEL group.  This will then lock any other users not in group WHEEL from even using the su command.

(Come to think of it, might be a BSD option entirely)

 

by: paullamhkgPosted on 2003-09-25 at 01:09:02ID: 9426703

Hopper101....please spare a moment and come back to this Q to tell us either our responses helped you or not. If one took the time to answer you, and did it correctly or helped you, I think deserves 1 minute from you to accept his answer. If not, your further details might give clues. If you found the solution some details are useful, cause others that might find this Q with search engines can use it as a reference, for how to close a TA check here  http://www.experts-exchange.com/help/closing.jsp#3. If you think we can't provide you solution and wanna a refund, post your request to EE admin here http://www.experts-exchange.com/Community_Support/ and request a refund will do :)

 

by: FuzZY_MOnStErPosted on 2004-01-23 at 12:14:10ID: 10187371

Hello,

Well ive been away from the EE forums for a while i thought this post was discarded a long time ago !
Maybe the guy just forgot the posting he made existed !

 

by: paullamhkgPosted on 2004-03-01 at 01:19:13ID: 10484794

No comment has been added lately, so it's time to clean up this TA.
I will leave the following recommendation for this question in the Cleanup topic area:

Split: FuzZY_MOnStEr {http:#9176537} & paullamhkg {http:#9178176}

Please leave any comments here within the next four days.
PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT THIS COMMENT AS AN ANSWER!

paullamhkg
EE Cleanup Volunteer

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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