what's wrong with logging in as root?
I have read several *nix books that strongly advise to "avoid logging in as root" and better use 'su' instead. These books mention it has to do with security issues but they do not give further explanations as to why and how it is exploited.
I will appreciate detailed exploits. Thanks.
Re: what's wrong with logging in as root?
Quote:
Originally posted here by pinoy
I have read several *nix books that strongly advise to "avoid logging in as root" and better use 'su' instead. These books mention it has to do with security issues but they do not give further explanations as to why and how it is exploited.
I will appreciate detailed exploits. Thanks.
Put simply (as we always used to say) root leaves big footprints.
Pretty much, there's nothing you won't be able to do as root, whether you intend to or not... that includes deleting needed files caught in a typo or filling your disk up so full that your system will not be able to reboot (you can fill the disk up as a normal user, too - but it's smart enough to leave a reserve).
There are lots of reasons to not do this... pretty much the easiest one - it pretty much defeats all security on the box.