Re: Secure reboot

From: Seth Arnold (sarnoldat_private)
Date: Tue Aug 19 2003 - 10:49:29 PDT

  • Next message: Chris Wright: "Address change for Chris Wright"

    On Tue, Aug 19, 2003 at 11:42:03AM -0700, Michael Halcrow wrote:
    > Keeping the vendor's shutdown procedure from getting hijacked by an
    > attacker seems to be my challenge.
    
    One challenge at a time! :)
    
    > Ideally, I suppose that I would like to have physical access to the
    > machine be a prerequisite for a shutdown request to be honored.
    
    Ok. This sounds like a reasonable policy; at least, it is concrete
    enough to work with. :)
    
    > Perhaps that would mean several things.  Once shutdown has initiated:
    >  - No new processes may be created (would this break the shutdown
    >    process?)
    
    This would break shutdown spectacularly. :)
    
    >  - All login sessions must be terminated
    >  - No new logins will be accepted
    >  - ...?
    > 
    > The trick is, what is the best criteria that defines, ``the shutdown
    > has initiated''?
    
    If it were my problem, I'd have an interface to the LSM module in a proc
    file, sysctl, or character device, that when presented with a well-formed
    string, initiates your "shutdown has started" policy. Insert a line in
    the first shutdown script that triggers this interface, and go from there.
    
    It might not make corner-case rebooting very friendly; sysadmins are
    used to being able to telinit 0, or other quick-n-dirty methods, to get
    the system down semi-cleanly.
    
    (Well, if it were my problem more directly, I'd just punt on the whole
    rebooting issue. :)
    
    > Actually, Robb recently transfered to another team in the LTC, and I
    > am an intern who inherited the project (and his nice modular desk :-)
    
    Ah, cool. :) 
    
    -- 
    "In God we trust, all others we monitor."
     -- NSA, Intercept Operators's motto, 1970
    
    
    

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