frank.jan...@actrix.co.nz, 28.02.2013: > Greetings, > > A root shell sometimes appears during the login sequence on a Debian > Wheezy system servicing thin clients. The root shell appears after one > enters a login and a password then presses random keys until a box appears > with the root prompt and perhaps the rest of the login window. > > A "whoami" has output "root". A "hostname" shows "ltsp38". The linux > running appears to be that on the thin client and not the server. The > filesystem shown is not that of the server and looks like what should be > on the thin client. > > Doing a "shutdown" shuts down the client and nothing else. Can't create a > directory in /etc but can output a file in to /home. The file in /home is > gone after the next login. > > This is a bug, what should be done to deal with it ? > Thanks in advance.
I don't have any personal experience with thin clients, but I googled "root shell pops up on thin client" and found http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/369833 which is about such vulnerabilities in the firmware of eSeSIX Thintune brand/model thin clients. Vulnerability #3 says to press <CTRL><SHIFT><ALT><DEL> and enter "maertsJ" as password, to get an xterm with root privileges. That's from 2004 but sounds somewhat similar to your situation and might still be relevant. A firmware upgrade or deletion of a certain file was recommended. I don't think this is a Debian bug. What brand/model is your thin client hardware? Maybe you should search for system-specific vulnerabilities of the sort above... Selim -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20130228175418.ga16...@cs.utexas.edu
