Launch a process with limited permissions





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I'd like to be able to launch processes with very limited permissions from the command line, basically so that I can run a process that I don't understand without it having access to things in my user area. For example, if I get a package from some colleague who has a tendency to write overly intrusive installers, I could do something like this: 



> subdo make


would run make in such that it wouldn't be allowed to touch any parent directories. Does any such functionality exist in Unix?






command-line permissions sandbox







share|improve this question


















  • 1





    You are looking for chroot, also called "BSD-jails".

    – Johan
    Jun 29 '13 at 16:04


















4















I'd like to be able to launch processes with very limited permissions from the command line, basically so that I can run a process that I don't understand without it having access to things in my user area. For example, if I get a package from some colleague who has a tendency to write overly intrusive installers, I could do something like this: 



> subdo make


would run make in such that it wouldn't be allowed to touch any parent directories. Does any such functionality exist in Unix?






command-line permissions sandbox







share|improve this question


















  • 1





    You are looking for chroot, also called "BSD-jails".

    – Johan
    Jun 29 '13 at 16:04














4












4








4








I'd like to be able to launch processes with very limited permissions from the command line, basically so that I can run a process that I don't understand without it having access to things in my user area. For example, if I get a package from some colleague who has a tendency to write overly intrusive installers, I could do something like this: 



> subdo make


would run make in such that it wouldn't be allowed to touch any parent directories. Does any such functionality exist in Unix?






command-line permissions sandbox







share|improve this question














I'd like to be able to launch processes with very limited permissions from the command line, basically so that I can run a process that I don't understand without it having access to things in my user area. For example, if I get a package from some colleague who has a tendency to write overly intrusive installers, I could do something like this: 



> subdo make


would run make in such that it wouldn't be allowed to touch any parent directories. Does any such functionality exist in Unix?






command-line permissions sandbox




command-line permissions sandbox






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Jun 29 '13 at 15:42









ShepShep

336147




336147








  • 1





    You are looking for chroot, also called "BSD-jails".

    – Johan
    Jun 29 '13 at 16:04














  • 1





    You are looking for chroot, also called "BSD-jails".

    – Johan
    Jun 29 '13 at 16:04








1




1





You are looking for chroot, also called "BSD-jails".

– Johan
Jun 29 '13 at 16:04





You are looking for chroot, also called "BSD-jails".

– Johan
Jun 29 '13 at 16:04










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















1














The simplest way is to use the nobody account:



sudo -u nobody make


nobody should never have permission to write to anything other than world writable files.






share|improve this answer































    1















    would run make in such that it wouldn't be allowed to touch any parent directories.




    This basically describes chroot:




    • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroot

    • https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Change_Root


    Note that, however, when you chroot the process will not have access to anything except the folders under the new root. That means that e.g. if the process needs to run some programs from e.g. /usr/bin or e.g. load some shared libraries from /usr/lib, it won't be able to do that unless you actually copy these under the new root. It really depends on the program you are trying to run.



    You can find a lot of tutorials for different programs, e.g. here's a sample BIND chroot tutorial:




    • http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Chroot-BIND8-HOWTO-2.html






    share|improve this answer





















    • 1





      Note that chroot is only useful against cooperative programs. A malicious program can easily escape the chroot unless you take a lot of extra precautions. For starters, there must be no process that the chrooted process can ptrace (so no process running as the same user outside the chroot, or non-parent ptrace disabled). Other bad things the chrooted process can do include network access (disable it for that user with iptables -m owner --uid-owner …), fork bombs (set stringent limits), etc.

      – Gilles
      Jun 29 '13 at 23:26











    • Agree, thanks for the additional info Gilles!

      – icyrock.com
      Jul 1 '13 at 0:13



















    0














    en.wikipedia.org: Systrace



    OpenBsd man page



    Generate policy:



    systrace -A -d /etc/systrace/make.policy/ 
    
         -E /var/log/systrace_make.log make


    Edit policy with your favorite text editor:



    vi /etc/systrace/make.policy/


    Thereafter, launch process with restrictions:



    systrace -a -d /etc/systrace/make.policy/ 
    
         -E /var/log/systrace_make.log make


    Look at my another one answer about using systrace with sshd






    share|improve this answer


























    • While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.

      – manatwork
      Jul 6 '13 at 16:07











    • I will explain now how to use systrace, better. But anyway, wikipedia links, while openbsd and linux keep using systrace, should not be changed.

      – stackexchanger
      Jul 6 '13 at 16:10














    Your Answer








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    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

    votes








    3 Answers
    3






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    1














    The simplest way is to use the nobody account:



    sudo -u nobody make


    nobody should never have permission to write to anything other than world writable files.






    share|improve this answer




























      1














      The simplest way is to use the nobody account:



      sudo -u nobody make


      nobody should never have permission to write to anything other than world writable files.






      share|improve this answer


























        1












        1








        1







        The simplest way is to use the nobody account:



        sudo -u nobody make


        nobody should never have permission to write to anything other than world writable files.






        share|improve this answer













        The simplest way is to use the nobody account:



        sudo -u nobody make


        nobody should never have permission to write to anything other than world writable files.







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered Jun 30 '13 at 6:45









        bahamatbahamat

        24.9k15090




        24.9k15090

























            1















            would run make in such that it wouldn't be allowed to touch any parent directories.




            This basically describes chroot:




            • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroot

            • https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Change_Root


            Note that, however, when you chroot the process will not have access to anything except the folders under the new root. That means that e.g. if the process needs to run some programs from e.g. /usr/bin or e.g. load some shared libraries from /usr/lib, it won't be able to do that unless you actually copy these under the new root. It really depends on the program you are trying to run.



            You can find a lot of tutorials for different programs, e.g. here's a sample BIND chroot tutorial:




            • http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Chroot-BIND8-HOWTO-2.html






            share|improve this answer





















            • 1





              Note that chroot is only useful against cooperative programs. A malicious program can easily escape the chroot unless you take a lot of extra precautions. For starters, there must be no process that the chrooted process can ptrace (so no process running as the same user outside the chroot, or non-parent ptrace disabled). Other bad things the chrooted process can do include network access (disable it for that user with iptables -m owner --uid-owner …), fork bombs (set stringent limits), etc.

              – Gilles
              Jun 29 '13 at 23:26











            • Agree, thanks for the additional info Gilles!

              – icyrock.com
              Jul 1 '13 at 0:13
















            1















            would run make in such that it wouldn't be allowed to touch any parent directories.




            This basically describes chroot:




            • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroot

            • https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Change_Root


            Note that, however, when you chroot the process will not have access to anything except the folders under the new root. That means that e.g. if the process needs to run some programs from e.g. /usr/bin or e.g. load some shared libraries from /usr/lib, it won't be able to do that unless you actually copy these under the new root. It really depends on the program you are trying to run.



            You can find a lot of tutorials for different programs, e.g. here's a sample BIND chroot tutorial:




            • http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Chroot-BIND8-HOWTO-2.html






            share|improve this answer





















            • 1





              Note that chroot is only useful against cooperative programs. A malicious program can easily escape the chroot unless you take a lot of extra precautions. For starters, there must be no process that the chrooted process can ptrace (so no process running as the same user outside the chroot, or non-parent ptrace disabled). Other bad things the chrooted process can do include network access (disable it for that user with iptables -m owner --uid-owner …), fork bombs (set stringent limits), etc.

              – Gilles
              Jun 29 '13 at 23:26











            • Agree, thanks for the additional info Gilles!

              – icyrock.com
              Jul 1 '13 at 0:13














            1












            1








            1








            would run make in such that it wouldn't be allowed to touch any parent directories.




            This basically describes chroot:




            • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroot

            • https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Change_Root


            Note that, however, when you chroot the process will not have access to anything except the folders under the new root. That means that e.g. if the process needs to run some programs from e.g. /usr/bin or e.g. load some shared libraries from /usr/lib, it won't be able to do that unless you actually copy these under the new root. It really depends on the program you are trying to run.



            You can find a lot of tutorials for different programs, e.g. here's a sample BIND chroot tutorial:




            • http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Chroot-BIND8-HOWTO-2.html






            share|improve this answer
















            would run make in such that it wouldn't be allowed to touch any parent directories.




            This basically describes chroot:




            • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroot

            • https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Change_Root


            Note that, however, when you chroot the process will not have access to anything except the folders under the new root. That means that e.g. if the process needs to run some programs from e.g. /usr/bin or e.g. load some shared libraries from /usr/lib, it won't be able to do that unless you actually copy these under the new root. It really depends on the program you are trying to run.



            You can find a lot of tutorials for different programs, e.g. here's a sample BIND chroot tutorial:




            • http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Chroot-BIND8-HOWTO-2.html







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited 3 hours ago









            Rui F Ribeiro

            41.9k1483142




            41.9k1483142










            answered Jun 29 '13 at 16:13









            icyrock.comicyrock.com

            49836




            49836








            • 1





              Note that chroot is only useful against cooperative programs. A malicious program can easily escape the chroot unless you take a lot of extra precautions. For starters, there must be no process that the chrooted process can ptrace (so no process running as the same user outside the chroot, or non-parent ptrace disabled). Other bad things the chrooted process can do include network access (disable it for that user with iptables -m owner --uid-owner …), fork bombs (set stringent limits), etc.

              – Gilles
              Jun 29 '13 at 23:26











            • Agree, thanks for the additional info Gilles!

              – icyrock.com
              Jul 1 '13 at 0:13














            • 1





              Note that chroot is only useful against cooperative programs. A malicious program can easily escape the chroot unless you take a lot of extra precautions. For starters, there must be no process that the chrooted process can ptrace (so no process running as the same user outside the chroot, or non-parent ptrace disabled). Other bad things the chrooted process can do include network access (disable it for that user with iptables -m owner --uid-owner …), fork bombs (set stringent limits), etc.

              – Gilles
              Jun 29 '13 at 23:26











            • Agree, thanks for the additional info Gilles!

              – icyrock.com
              Jul 1 '13 at 0:13








            1




            1





            Note that chroot is only useful against cooperative programs. A malicious program can easily escape the chroot unless you take a lot of extra precautions. For starters, there must be no process that the chrooted process can ptrace (so no process running as the same user outside the chroot, or non-parent ptrace disabled). Other bad things the chrooted process can do include network access (disable it for that user with iptables -m owner --uid-owner …), fork bombs (set stringent limits), etc.

            – Gilles
            Jun 29 '13 at 23:26





            Note that chroot is only useful against cooperative programs. A malicious program can easily escape the chroot unless you take a lot of extra precautions. For starters, there must be no process that the chrooted process can ptrace (so no process running as the same user outside the chroot, or non-parent ptrace disabled). Other bad things the chrooted process can do include network access (disable it for that user with iptables -m owner --uid-owner …), fork bombs (set stringent limits), etc.

            – Gilles
            Jun 29 '13 at 23:26













            Agree, thanks for the additional info Gilles!

            – icyrock.com
            Jul 1 '13 at 0:13





            Agree, thanks for the additional info Gilles!

            – icyrock.com
            Jul 1 '13 at 0:13











            0














            en.wikipedia.org: Systrace



            OpenBsd man page



            Generate policy:



            systrace -A -d /etc/systrace/make.policy/ 
            
         -E /var/log/systrace_make.log make


            Edit policy with your favorite text editor:



            vi /etc/systrace/make.policy/


            Thereafter, launch process with restrictions:



            systrace -a -d /etc/systrace/make.policy/ 
            
         -E /var/log/systrace_make.log make


            Look at my another one answer about using systrace with sshd






            share|improve this answer


























            • While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.

              – manatwork
              Jul 6 '13 at 16:07











            • I will explain now how to use systrace, better. But anyway, wikipedia links, while openbsd and linux keep using systrace, should not be changed.

              – stackexchanger
              Jul 6 '13 at 16:10


















            0














            en.wikipedia.org: Systrace



            OpenBsd man page



            Generate policy:



            systrace -A -d /etc/systrace/make.policy/ 
            
         -E /var/log/systrace_make.log make


            Edit policy with your favorite text editor:



            vi /etc/systrace/make.policy/


            Thereafter, launch process with restrictions:



            systrace -a -d /etc/systrace/make.policy/ 
            
         -E /var/log/systrace_make.log make


            Look at my another one answer about using systrace with sshd






            share|improve this answer


























            • While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.

              – manatwork
              Jul 6 '13 at 16:07











            • I will explain now how to use systrace, better. But anyway, wikipedia links, while openbsd and linux keep using systrace, should not be changed.

              – stackexchanger
              Jul 6 '13 at 16:10
















            0












            0








            0







            en.wikipedia.org: Systrace



            OpenBsd man page



            Generate policy:



            systrace -A -d /etc/systrace/make.policy/ 
            
         -E /var/log/systrace_make.log make


            Edit policy with your favorite text editor:



            vi /etc/systrace/make.policy/


            Thereafter, launch process with restrictions:



            systrace -a -d /etc/systrace/make.policy/ 
            
         -E /var/log/systrace_make.log make


            Look at my another one answer about using systrace with sshd






            share|improve this answer















            en.wikipedia.org: Systrace



            OpenBsd man page



            Generate policy:



            systrace -A -d /etc/systrace/make.policy/ 
            
         -E /var/log/systrace_make.log make


            Edit policy with your favorite text editor:



            vi /etc/systrace/make.policy/


            Thereafter, launch process with restrictions:



            systrace -a -d /etc/systrace/make.policy/ 
            
         -E /var/log/systrace_make.log make


            Look at my another one answer about using systrace with sshd







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36









            Community♦

            1




            1










            answered Jul 6 '13 at 15:20









            stackexchangerstackexchanger

            28514




            28514













            • While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.

              – manatwork
              Jul 6 '13 at 16:07











            • I will explain now how to use systrace, better. But anyway, wikipedia links, while openbsd and linux keep using systrace, should not be changed.

              – stackexchanger
              Jul 6 '13 at 16:10





















            • While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.

              – manatwork
              Jul 6 '13 at 16:07











            • I will explain now how to use systrace, better. But anyway, wikipedia links, while openbsd and linux keep using systrace, should not be changed.

              – stackexchanger
              Jul 6 '13 at 16:10



















            While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.

            – manatwork
            Jul 6 '13 at 16:07





            While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.

            – manatwork
            Jul 6 '13 at 16:07













            I will explain now how to use systrace, better. But anyway, wikipedia links, while openbsd and linux keep using systrace, should not be changed.

            – stackexchanger
            Jul 6 '13 at 16:10







            I will explain now how to use systrace, better. But anyway, wikipedia links, while openbsd and linux keep using systrace, should not be changed.

            – stackexchanger
            Jul 6 '13 at 16:10




















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