(find.info.gz) Security Considerations

 
 10 Security Considerations
 **************************
 
 Security considerations are important if you are using `find' or
 `xargs' to search for or process files that don't belong to you or
 which other people have control.  Security considerations relating to
 `locate' may also apply if you have files which you do not want others
 to see.
 
    The most severe forms of security problems affecting `find' and
 related programs are when third parties bring about a situation
 allowing them to do something they would normally not be able to
 accomplish.  This is called _privilege elevation_.  This might include
 deleting files they would not normally be able to delete.  It is common
 for the operating system to periodically invoke `find' for
 self-maintenance purposes.  These invocations of `find' are
 particularly problematic from a security point of view as these are
 often invoked by the superuser and search the entire filesystem
 hierarchy.  Generally, the severity of any associated problem depends
 on what the system is going to do with the files found by `find'.

 
* Levels of Risk      What is your level of exposure to security problems?
* Security Considerations for find  Security problems with find
* Security Considerations for xargs Security problems with xargs
* Security Considerations for locate Security problems with locate
* Security Summary That was all very complex, what does it boil down to?

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