Re: ps(1) for freebsd.

[scotts () cybersource com (Scott Smith)]

>         Paranoia is not synonymous with security, nor is it synonymous
>         with "privacy."
>
>         Hacking ps to fix a security problem in ppp is not the solution:
>         fixing ppp is. ps(1)'s -a and -e flags were implemented for a
>         reason; to remove them is de-evolutionary.

        Agreed, but one could associate the ability as an unprivledged user to
read *other* users' environment variables with the finger(1) bug that allowed
users to read arbitraty files (or the sendmail uuencode bug, or ...).  The only
difference is that the target is not a file, it is an environment variable.

        There is a reason I make my shell's rc files mode 0700 and have a umask
of 077, and paranoia/security laziness are *not* why.  :)

Scott

--
scott () cybersource com
UNIX Sysadmin, CyberSource (ext. 6093)

"My manager, after having poked his head into my area for the 10th time today,
said, `I just can never understand how sysadmins can work effectively with
people breathing down their necks.'" - a friend