Re: script credentials

[Ansgar Wiechers <bugtraq () planetcobalt net>]

On 2010-02-19 Bryce Verdier wrote:
> So I've been writing a Perl script for my job. The script will be run
> from a cron job (interval not yet set) and deposit some information to
> a  database. The database has a user with minimal rights to insert
> data.
>
> So my question is with regards to how should the database user
> credentials be kept. So far the discussion has had three options:
>
> 1) credentials within the script
> 2) command line
> 3) config file
>
> Each one has their own advantages & disadvantages but I would like to
> get the opinion of the community as to which one gets the label of
> "best  practices".

If by "command line" you mean "as a command line argument": that's out
of the question, as it would expose the password to tools like ps. The
other two options are more or less equivalent, although personally I'd
prefer to put credentials into a config file. That way you have the
configuration separated from the code, which is a cleaner design (IMHO),
and it also allows you to hand out your script without exposing
credentials.

Regards
Ansgar Wiechers
-- 
"All vulnerabilities deserve a public fear period prior to patches
becoming available."
--Jason Coombs on Bugtraq

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