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Sudo Access with Beowulf Clusters

Sudo Access with Beowulf Clusters. Chris Feehan CS Senior Capstone 12/18/06. Outline. *Intro to Sudo Command *Configuring Sudo *Sudo w/ Clusters *Ethics & Security *Recommendations. What Exactly is Sudo?. Access Configuration Tool Non-root as root w/out passwd *root=superuser

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Sudo Access with Beowulf Clusters

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  1. Sudo Access with Beowulf Clusters Chris Feehan CS Senior Capstone 12/18/06

  2. Outline *Intro to Sudo Command *Configuring Sudo *Sudo w/ Clusters *Ethics & Security *Recommendations

  3. What Exactly is Sudo? • Access Configuration Tool • Non-root as root w/out passwd *root=superuser • By default, installed on most Unix-based OS’s • Widely used at academic institutions and small, low-budget businesses • Its FREE!

  4. Sudo Configuration • Prefix command with “sudo”, prompts for password, accepts or denies (example) “% sudo chmod u+rw file.txt” “% Password: _______” • /etc/sudoers, /usr/sbin/visudo • 2 Main Components: Aliases & User Specification

  5. /etc/sudoers Example • *ALIAS ALIASNAME = item1, item2,… //User_Alias SYSADMINS = Jensen, Feehan, //Host_Alias CLUSTERHEADS = castaway Cmnd_Alias DELEGATE = /bin/chgrp, /bin/chown Cmnd_Alias SHELLS = /bin/sh, /bin/bash, /bin/tcsh • User Specification root (superuser) ALL = (ALL) ALL SYSADMINS CLUSTERHEADS = DELEGATE, !SHELLS

  6. Why is sudo right for St. Olaf Beowulf Cluster? • Free • Expensive solutions= sysmark powerpassword • Highly Configurable • Users perform specific tasks • Secure edit via VISUDO • Locks sudoers file against multiple simultaneous edits • Provides basic sanity checks, checks for parse errors • Powerful Logging facilities • /var/log/sudo.log • .bash_history • Allows for Least Privilege methodology • Least access they need…minimizes any damage a user or attacker can make

  7. Sudo Risks • Sudo passwords • Every account w/ full sudo access= < attacker likelihood for success • How can they get access to passwords? • /etc/shadow via sudo • Sudo hijacking • By default, Sudo uses tickets--password caching • Multiple sessions per user with same ticket! • Attacker can piggyback on sudo privileges w/out his/her password • Prevent tip: disable password caching

  8. Piggyback Attack

  9. Sudo Risks (cont) • Sudo Escalation • Exclusion vs. Inclusion • if improperly configured, Limited Sudo Full Sudo

  10. Recommendations • How to delegate privileges w/ Beowulf cluster? • Currently, only active configuration of sudo is root =ALL, admin=ALL • StudentAdmin/Project Leader--learn sudo inside and out • Don’t make the mistake of using exclusion. Start Basic—increase privileges as necessary • If configuring sudo, also should configure ssh Don’t want anyone logging into childnodes as root • PDF Report on Secure Automation with Sudo & SSH Robert Napier—Cisco Systems http://www.usenix.org/events/lisa04/tech/full_papers/napier/napier.pdf

  11. Questions?

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