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GSEC · Question #158

You work as a Network Administrator for Net Perfect Inc. The company has a Linux-based network. You are configuring an application server. An application named Report, which is owned by the root…

The correct answer is A. Change the Report application to a SUID command. Setting the SUID bit on the Report application allows non-root users to execute it with root-level privileges without needing the root password.

Linux and Cryptography

Question

You work as a Network Administrator for Net Perfect Inc. The company has a Linux-based network. You are configuring an application server. An application named Report, which is owned by the root user, is placed on the server. This application requires superuser permission to write to other files. All sales managers of the company will be using the application. Which of the following steps will you take in order to enable the sales managers to run and use the Report application?

Options

  • AChange the Report application to a SUID command.
  • BMake the user accounts of all the sales managers the members of the root group.
  • CProvide password of root user to all the sales managers.
  • DAs the application is owned by the root, no changes are required.

How the community answered

(20 responses)
  • A
    70% (14)
  • B
    5% (1)
  • C
    5% (1)
  • D
    20% (4)

Why each option

Setting the SUID bit on the Report application allows non-root users to execute it with root-level privileges without needing the root password.

AChange the Report application to a SUID command.Correct

The SUID (Set User ID) bit causes an executable to run with the effective UID of the file owner rather than the executing user. Since Report is owned by root, setting SUID lets sales managers run it and have it write files with root permissions, granting only the necessary elevated access scoped to that application.

BMake the user accounts of all the sales managers the members of the root group.

Adding users to the root group grants broad group-level root permissions across the system, violating the principle of least privilege and exposing far more access than needed.

CProvide password of root user to all the sales managers.

Sharing the root password gives full administrative access to all managers and eliminates accountability, which is a critical security violation.

DAs the application is owned by the root, no changes are required.

Without SUID, non-root users executing the application will do so with their own unprivileged UID, and the application will fail when it attempts to write to files requiring root permission.

Concept tested: Linux SUID bit for privileged application execution

Source: https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/chmod.1.html

Topics

#SUID#Linux permissions#setuid bit#privilege escalation

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