force.c

[Jerry Aguirre]

> With the rash of un-secure programs that turn the average user into
> root without the courtesy of using su,  I felt that I should post a 
> program that we have been using fairly successfully here at wjvax.
 
> I make no guarantees about portability (we're running bsd 4.2) or

For a user on 4.2BSD (or any system with job control) it is both
simpler and faster to use job control to stop and restart the "su"
program.  Some aliases help,  for root have
	"alias z 'suspend;echo $cwd'"

and for yourself
	"alias s fg %su"

Then just fire up a normal su when you log in.

This gives all the advantages of quick access to root while keeping
normal commands restricted.  Restarting a job is quicker that executing
ANY program.

The only security hole is that you must protect your logged in terminal
as you would protect a terminal logged in as root.  Either log out or
use some secure program like "gone" when you are at lunch etc.  As this
is good practice anyway I don't consider it additional work.

					Jerry Aguirre @ Olivetti ATC
{hplabs|fortune|idi|ihnp4|tolerant|allegra|Glacier|olhqma}!oliveb!jerry