/usr/bin/hostname

[johngiggs]

I just heard one of the UNIX admins speaking to a user about /usr/bin/hostname. It seems as though the user typed hostname newhostname, not knowing the impact of that command. Shouldn't that command be locked down somehow so that non-root users cannot use hostname with any arguments?

Thanks,

John

 

[bi]

what flavor of Unix? Solaris and AIX require root privileges to change hostname. HP requires users with "appropriate privileges" (whatever that means. I would assume it means root).

 

[johngiggs]

I'm not positive, but I think it was HP-UX. I checked out a few other servers and /usr/bin/hostname was 555, so it seems as though anyone can change the hostname.

John