COMMAND
vlock & logout
SYSTEMS AFFECTED
Linux
PROBLEM
Czako Krisztian found following. There's a possible security
problem using auto idle logout programs and vt lockers. Try the
following:
get the pid of your shell,
(sleep 10s ; kill -HUP <pid-of-your-shell) &
vlock -a
After vlock -a, you can't change the virtual console on a Linux
terminal. But if you log in, start vlock -a, enter your password
you can change vt...
The same happens when an auto idle logout program logs you off.
The vlock (maybe lockvt also) program doesn't terminate itself
after a SIGHUP, which is ok, but after this, anyone can log in,
start vlock -a, enters his/her password, and get full access to
the console.
SOLUTION
Possible solutions:
- don't use vlock/lockvt
- don't use auto idle logout program
- as root, never leave your terminal. log off.
If you want to leave, use screen, detach it and log out.