Re: getuid() vs. geteuid() in auditctl

[Steve Grubb <sgrubb@redhat.com>]

On Wednesday, March 21, 2012 12:38:06 PM Peter Moody wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 11:07 AM, Steve Grubb <sgrubb@redhat.com> wrote:
> > On Friday, March 16, 2012 05:50:56 PM Peter Moody wrote:
> >> line 1162 in auditctl.c has this:
> >> 
> >> #ifndef DEBUG
> >>   /* Make sure we are root */
> >>   if (getuid() != 0) {
> >>     fprintf(stderr, "You must be root to run this program.\n");
> >>     return 4;
> >>   }
> >> #endif
> >> 
> >> Is there any particular reason to use getuid() there as opposed to
> >> geteuid()?
> > 
> > I suppose it doesn't matter. I never envisioned having a helper
> > application, so that why its the way it is. Since we are optionally
> > linking in libcap-ng, I suppose we could even check the capability
> > rather than the euid.
> 
> Just the CAP_AUDIT_CONTROL capability?

On the -m command, it instead needs CAP_AUDIT_WRITE.


 
> > Also note that
> > for certification purposes the file permissions are restricted.
> 
> The permissions of the auditctl binary?

Yes. We ship it 0750.

-Steve