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1 CraigBox 1 !!NAME
2 sudo - execute a command as another user
3
4 !!SYNOPSIS
5 __sudo__ __-V__ | __-h__ | __-l__ | __-L__ | __-v__ | __-k__ | __-K__ | __-s__ | [[ __-H__ ] [[__-P__ ] [[__-S__ ] [[ __-b__ ] | [[ __-p__ ''prompt'' ] [[ __-c__ ''class''|''-'' ] [[ __-a__ ''auth_type'' ] [[ __-u__ ''username''|''#uid'' ] ''command''
6
7 !!DESCRIPTION
8 __sudo__ allows a permitted user to execute a ''command'' as the superuser or another user, as specified in the ''sudoers'' file. The real and effective uid and gid are set to match those of the target user as specified in the passwd file (the group vector is also initialized when the target user is not root). By default, __sudo__ requires that users authenticate themselves with a password (NOTE: by default this is the user's password, not the root password). Once a user has been authenticated, a timestamp is updated and the user may then use sudo without a password for a short period of time (15 minutes unless overridden in ''sudoers'').
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10 __sudo__ determines who is an authorized user by consulting the file ''/etc/sudoers''. By giving __sudo__ the __-v__ flag a user can update the time stamp without running a ''command.'' The password prompt itself will also time out if the user's password is not entered within 0 minutes (unless overridden via ''sudoers'').
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12 If a user who is not listed in the ''sudoers'' file tries to run a command via __sudo__, mail is sent to the proper authorities, as defined at configure time or the ''sudoers'' file (defaults to root). Note that the mail will not be sent if an unauthorized user tries to run sudo with the __-l__ or __-v__ flags. This allows users to determine for themselves whether or not they are allowed to use __sudo__.
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14 __sudo__ can log both successful and unsuccessful attempts (as well as errors) to ''syslog''(3), a log file, or both. By default __sudo__ will log via ''syslog''(3) but this is changeable at configure time or via the ''sudoers'' file.
15
16 !!OPTIONS
17 __sudo__ accepts the following command line options: "-V" : The __-V__ (''version'') option causes __sudo__ to print the version number and exit. If the invoking user is already root the __-V__ option will print out a list of the defaults __sudo__ was compiled with as well as the machine's local network addresses.
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19
20 ; ''-l'' : The __-l__ (''list'') option will list out the allowed (and forbidden) commands for the user on the current host.
21 ; ''-L'' : The __-L__ (''list'' defaults) option will list out the parameters that may be set in a ''Defaults'' line along with a short description for each. This option is useful in conjunction with ''grep''(1).
22 ; ''-h'' : The __-h__ (''help'') option causes __sudo__ to print a usage message and exit.
23 ; ''-v'' : If given the __-v__ (''validate'') option, __sudo__ will update the user's timestamp, prompting for the user's password if necessary. This extends the __sudo__ timeout for another 15 minutes (or whatever the timeout is set to in ''sudoers'') but does not run a command. "-k" : The __-k__ (''kill'') option to __sudo__ invalidates the user's timestamp by setting the time on it to the epoch. The next time __sudo__ is run a password will be required. This option does not require a password and was added to allow a user to revoke __sudo__ permissions from a .logout file.
24 ; ''-K'' : The __-K__ (sure ''kill'') option to __sudo__ removes the user's timestamp entirely. Likewise, this option does not require a password. "-b" : The __-b__ (''background'') option tells __sudo__ to run the given command in the background. Note that if you use the __-b__ option you cannot use shell job control to manipulate the process.
25 ; ''-p'' : The __-p__ (''prompt'') option allows you to override the default password prompt and use a custom one. If the password prompt contains the %u escape, %u will be replaced with the user's login name. Similarly, %h will be replaced with the local hostname.
26 ; ''-c'' : The __-c__ (''class'') option causes __sudo__ to run the specified command with resources limited by the specified login class. The ''class'' argument can be either a class name as defined in /etc/login.conf, or a single '-' character. Specifying a ''class'' of - indicates that the command should be run restricted by the default login capabilities for the user the command is run as. If the ''class'' argument specifies an existing user class, the command must be run as root, or the __sudo__ command must be run from a shell that is already root. This option is only available on systems with BSD login classes where __sudo__ has been configured with the - with-logincap option.
27 ; ''-a'' : The __-a__ (''authentication type'') option causes __sudo__ to use the specified authentication type when validating the user, as allowed by /etc/login.conf. The system administrator may specify a list of sudo-specific authentication methods by adding an \*(L"auth-sudo\*(R" entry in /etc/login.conf. This option is only available on systems that support BSD authentication where __sudo__ has been configured with the - with-bsdauth option.
28 ; ''-u'' : The __-u__ (''user'') option causes __sudo__ to run the specified command as a user other than ''root''. To specify a ''uid'' instead of a ''username'', use ''#uid''.
29 ; ''-s'' : The __-s__ (''shell'') option runs the shell specified by the ''SHELL'' environment variable if it is set or the shell as specified in ''passwd''(5). "-H" : The __-H__ (''HOME'') option sets the HOME environment variable to the homedir of the target user (root by default) as specified in ''passwd''(5). By default, __sudo__ does not modify HOME.
30 ; ''-P'' : The __-P__ (''preserve group vector'') option causes __sudo__ to preserve the user's group vector unaltered. By default, __sudo__ will initialize the group vector to the list of groups the target user is in. The real and effective group IDs, however, are still set to match the target user.
31 ; ''-S'' : The __-S__ (''stdin'') option causes __sudo__ to read the password from standard input instead of the terminal device. "- " 4 The __--__ flag indicates that __sudo__ should stop processing command line arguments. It is most useful in conjunction with the __-s__ flag.
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33
34 !!RETURN VALUES
35 Upon successful execution of a program, the return value from __sudo__ will simply be the return value of the program that was executed.
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37 Otherwise, __sudo__ quits with an exit value of 1 if there is a configuration/permission problem or if __sudo__ cannot execute the given command. In the latter case the error string is printed to stderr. If __sudo__ cannot ''stat''(2) one or more entries in the user's PATH an error is printed on stderr. (If the directory does not exist or if it is not really a directory, the entry is ignored and no error is printed.) This should not happen under normal circumstances. The most common reason for ''stat''(2) to return "permission denied" is if you are running an automounter and one of the directories in your PATH is on a machine that is currently unreachable.
38
39 !!SECURITY NOTES
40 __sudo__ tries to be safe when executing external commands. Variables that control how dynamic loading and binding is done can be used to subvert the program that __sudo__ runs. To combat this the LD_*, _RLD_*, SHLIB_PATH (HP-UX only), and LIBPATH (AIX only) environment variables are removed from the environment passed on to all commands executed. __sudo__ will also remove the IFS, ENV, BASH_ENV, KRB_CONF, KRBCONFDIR, KRBTKFILE, KRB5_CONFIG, LOCALDOMAIN, RES_OPTIONS, HOSTALIASES, NLSPATH, PATH_LOCALE, TERMINFO, TERMINFO_DIRS and TERMPATH variables as they too can pose a threat. If the TERMCAP variable is set and is a pathname, it too is ignored. Additionally, if the LC_* or LANGUAGE variables contain the / or % characters, they are ignored. If __sudo__ has been compiled with SecurID support, the VAR_ACE, USR_ACE and DLC_ACE variables are cleared as well. The list of environment variables that __sudo__ clears is contained in the output of sudo -V when run as root.
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42 To prevent command spoofing, __sudo__ checks \*(L".\*(R" and "" (both denoting current directory) last when searching for a command in the user's PATH (if one or both are in the PATH). Note, however, that the actual PATH environment variable is ''not'' modified and is passed unchanged to the program that __sudo__ executes.
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44 For security reasons, if your OS supports shared libraries and does not disable user-defined library search paths for setuid programs (most do), you should either use a linker option that disables this behavior or link __sudo__ statically.
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46 __sudo__ will check the ownership of its timestamp directory (''/var/run/sudo'' by default) and ignore the directory's contents if it is not owned by root and only writable by root. On systems that allow non-root users to give away files via ''chown''(2), if the timestamp directory is located in a directory writable by anyone (e.g.: ''/tmp''), it is possible for a user to create the timestamp directory before __sudo__ is run. However, because __sudo__ checks the ownership and mode of the directory and its contents, the only damage that can be done is to \*(L"hide\*(R" files by putting them in the timestamp dir. This is unlikely to happen since once the timestamp dir is owned by root and inaccessible by any other user the user placing files there would be unable to get them back out. To get around this issue you can use a directory that is not world-writable for the timestamps (''/var/adm/sudo'' for instance) or create ''/var/run/sudo'' with the appropriate owner (root) and permissions (0700) in the system startup files.
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48 __sudo__ will not honor timestamps set far in the future. Timestamps with a date greater than current_time + 2 * TIMEOUT will be ignored and sudo will log and complain. This is done to keep a user from creating his/her own timestamp with a bogus date on systems that allow users to give away files.
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50 Please note that __sudo__ will only log the command it explicitly runs. If a user runs a command such as sudo su or sudo sh, subsequent commands run from that shell will ''not'' be logged, nor will __sudo__'s access control affect them. The same is true for commands that offer shell escapes (including most editors). Because of this, care must be taken when giving users access to commands via __sudo__ to verify that the command does not inadvertantly give the user an effective root shell.
51
52 !!EXAMPLES
53 Note: the following examples assume suitable ''sudoers''(5) entries.
54
55 To get a file listing of an unreadable directory:
56
57 % sudo ls /usr/local/protected
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59 To list the home directory of user yazza on a machine where the filesystem holding ~yazza is not exported as root:
60
61 % sudo -u yazza ls ~yazza
62
63 To edit the ''index.html'' file as user www:
64
65 % sudo -u www vi ~www/htdocs/index.html
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67 To shutdown a machine:
68
69 % sudo shutdown -r +15 "quick reboot"
70
71 To make a usage listing of the directories in the /home partition. Note that this runs the commands in a sub-shell to make the cd and file redirection work.
72
73 % sudo sh -c "cd /home ; du -s * | sort -rn > USAGE"
74
75 !!ENVIRONMENT
76 __sudo__ utilizes the following environment variables:
77
78 ; PATH : Set to a sane value if SECURE_PATH is set
79 ; SHELL : Used to determine shell to run with -s option
80 ; USER :Set to the target user (root unless the -u option is specified)
81 ; HOME : In -s or -H mode (or if sudo was configured with the --enable-shell-sets-home option), set to homedir of the target user.
82 ; SUDO_PROMPT : Used as the default password prompt
83 ; SUDO_COMMAND : Set to the command run by sudo
84 ; SUDO_USER : Set to the login of the user who invoked sudo
85 ; SUDO_UID : Set to the uid of the user who invoked sudo
86 ; SUDO_GID : Set to the gid of the user who invoked sudo
87 ; SUDO_PS1 : If set, PS1 will be set to its value
88
89 !!FILES
90 ; /etc/sudoers : List of who can run what
91 ; /var/run/sudo : Directory containing timestamps
92
93 !!AUTHORS
94 Many people have worked on __sudo__ over the years; this version consists of code written primarily by:
95 * Todd Miller
96 * Chris Jepeway
97
98 See the HISTORY file in the __sudo__ distribution or visit http://www.sudo.ws/sudo/history.html for a short history of __sudo__.
99
100 !!BUGS
101 If you feel you have found a bug in sudo, please submit a bug report at http://www.sudo.ws/sudo/bugs/
102
103 !!DISCLAIMER
104 __Sudo__ is provided "AS IS" and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed. See the LICENSE file distributed with __sudo__ for complete details.
105
106 !!CAVEATS
107 There is no easy way to prevent a user from gaining a root shell if that user has access to commands allowing shell escapes.
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109 If users have sudo ALL there is nothing to prevent them from creating their own program that gives them a root shell regardless of any '!' elements in the user specification.
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111 Running shell scripts via __sudo__ can expose the same kernel bugs that make setuid shell scripts unsafe on some operating systems (if your OS supports the /dev/fd/ directory, setuid shell scripts are generally safe).
112
113 !!SEE ALSO
114 ''stat''(2), ''login_cap''(3), ''sudoers''(5), ''passwd''(5), ''visudo''(8), ''grep''(1), ''su''(1).
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