[cod] Disapointed

[Dave Whitla]

On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 10:56 am, MayDay wrote:
> This REALLY helped alot Dave:D

No problem.  I get frustrated myself when I can't trace a problem - I usually 
can't sleep until I find it - not good for your health.

> I had no idea samba was that big og a security risc.
> Neither did i know that i could cause lag.
> I has both samba shares AND smbfs mounts.
> Ill remove the crap and use ftp in the future.

Don't get me wrong - Samba is a great set of applications.  Just use things 
wisely with discretion.  One of the reasons Linux is a power-user's best 
friend is that you can turn off everything that you don't need, and thereby 
reduce your exposure to risk - as well as resource usage.

> server_linux is Teamspeak2, donno why it spawned so many threads, maybe its
> like apache, thinking it's super important and going to get 1000 connection
> in the next few min :D

This is the main reason I have replied to the list here.
Everyone please take note that running ANY network service as root is just 
plain dangerous - more so when the service is relatively unproven against 
exploits.

If a service does not need to bind to a port below 1024 (is an issue in most 
*nixes) or access root restricted files create a new unpriviledged user for 
that service and suexec the service as that user.  If the service is 
compromised any damage will be limited and relatively easy to excise.
If a service must bind below 1024 a safe start thread should start as root and 
then fork as some unpriviledged user - as apache and mysql do for example.

I note that many of the linux hosted COD servers out there are currently 
running as root. Check stuff like this whenever you install a new network 
service.  Most distros are pretty good when it comes to services installed 
via RPM, APT or similar - it's usually roll-your-own stuff thats gets new 
guys into trouble.

If none of this makes sense to you, please search the net for information 
until it does - new linux users are prime targets for worms and crackers 
looking for DDOS pawns.

Happy gaming guys ;-D

Dave