SYSKEY2. Request For Comments

[Nicolas Williams]

On Sat, 5 Feb 2000, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton wrote:
> i need to make the sam database read-accessible to all unix users. just 
> like /etc/passwd. 
> 
> therefore, i need to encrypt the passwords [or as elrond suggested, keep 
> them in a separate database that is root-only accessible] with a root-only 
> accessible syskey. 
> 
> On Fri, 4 Feb 2000 jeremy at valinux.com wrote: 
> 
> > > i am looking to implement an equivalent mechanism to SYSKEY, however i do 
> > > not have the relevant security skills to say whether a proposal is secure 
> > > or not. 
> > 
> > Why ? SYSKEY is a silly idea ! 
...
> > What does everyone else think ? I don't want you 
> > to implement it - it's just a *bad* idea. 
> > 
> > Jeremy. 
> > 

Luke, you canuse a separate root-read-only TDB for storing the password
data. Much like Unix systems have /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow (as
someone else has already pointed out).

Jeremy is correct in likening your idea to the way MIT's Kerberos KDC
stores its data.

Think about it: you're gonna encrypt the data and then keep the
encryption key in a root-read-only file on the same machine anyways (If
you don't then an operator would have to type in the key when the
service starts). It's not a bad thing, but it's also not any more secure
than the shadow idea.

The fact is, domain controllers and KDCs MUST BE SECURED. This means
that few users get to login to them, that few services run on them,
etc...

Nico

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