KSU(1)                           MIT Kerberos                           KSU(1)



NAME
       ksu - Kerberized super-user

SYNOPSIS
       ksu [ target_user ] [ -n target_principal_name ] [ -c source_cache_name
       ] [ -k ] [ -D ] [ -r time ] [ -pf ] [ -l lifetime ] [ -z | Z ] [ -q ] [
       -e command [ args ...  ] ] [ -a [ args ...  ] ]

REQUIREMENTS
       Must  have  Kerberos  version  5 installed to compile ksu.  Must have a
       Kerberos version 5 server running to use ksu.

DESCRIPTION
       ksu is a Kerberized version of the su program that  has  two  missions:
       one is to securely change the real and effective user ID to that of the
       target user, and the other is to create a new security context.

       Note   For the sake of clarity, all references to and attributes of the
              user  invoking  the  program  will  start  with  "source" (e.g.,
              "source user", "source cache", etc.).

              Likewise, all references to and attributes of the target account
              will start with "target".

AUTHENTICATION
       To  fulfill  the first mission, ksu operates in two phases: authentica-
       tion and authorization.  Resolving the target  principal  name  is  the
       first  step in authentication.  The user can either specify his princi-
       pal name with the -n option (e.g., -n jqpublic@USC.EDU)  or  a  default
       principal  name  will  be  assigned  using a heuristic described in the
       OPTIONS section (see -n option).  The target  user  name  must  be  the
       first  argument  to ksu; if not specified root is the default.  If . is
       specified then the target user will be the source user (e.g.,  ksu  .).
       If  the  source  user is root or the target user is the source user, no
       authentication or authorization takes place.  Otherwise, ksu looks  for
       an appropriate Kerberos ticket in the source cache.

       The ticket can either be for the end-server or a ticket granting ticket
       (TGT) for  the  target  principal's  realm.   If  the  ticket  for  the
       end-server  is  already  in the cache, it's decrypted and verified.  If
       it's not in the cache but the TGT is, the TGT is  used  to  obtain  the
       ticket for the end-server.  The end-server ticket is then verified.  If
       neither  ticket  is  in  the  cache,  but  ksu  is  compiled  with  the
       GET_TGT_VIA_PASSWD  define,  the  user  will be prompted for a Kerberos
       password which will then be used to get a TGT.  If the user  is  logged
       in  remotely  and  does  not have a secure channel, the password may be
       exposed.  If neither ticket is in the cache and  GET_TGT_VIA_PASSWD  is
       not defined, authentication fails.

AUTHORIZATION
       This  section  describes  authorization  of the source user when ksu is
       invoked without the -e option.  For a description of the -e option, see
       the OPTIONS section.

       Upon successful authentication, ksu checks whether the target principal
       is authorized to access the target account.  In the target user's  home
       directory,  ksu attempts to access two authorization files: .k5login(5)
       and .k5users.  In the .k5login file each line contains the  name  of  a
       principal that is authorized to access the account.

       For example:

              jqpublic@USC.EDU
              jqpublic/secure@USC.EDU
              jqpublic/admin@USC.EDU

       The  format  of  .k5users is the same, except the principal name may be
       followed by a list of commands that the principal is authorized to exe-
       cute (see the -e option in the OPTIONS section for details).

       Thus  if  the  target  principal name is found in the .k5login file the
       source user is authorized to access the target account.  Otherwise  ksu
       looks  in  the  .k5users  file.   If the target principal name is found
       without any trailing commands or followed only by  *  then  the  source
       user is authorized.  If either .k5login or .k5users exist but an appro-
       priate entry for the target principal does not  exist  then  access  is
       denied.   If  neither  file  exists  then the principal will be granted
       access to the account according  to  the  aname->lname  mapping  rules.
       Otherwise, authorization fails.

EXECUTION OF THE TARGET SHELL
       Upon  successful  authentication  and  authorization, ksu proceeds in a
       similar fashion to su.  The environment is unmodified with  the  excep-
       tion  of  USER,  HOME  and  SHELL variables.  If the target user is not
       root, USER gets set to the target user name.   Otherwise  USER  remains
       unchanged.   Both  HOME and SHELL are set to the target login's default
       values.  In addition, the environment variable KRB5CCNAME gets  set  to
       the  name  of  the  target  cache.   The real and effective user ID are
       changed to that of the target user.  The target user's  shell  is  then
       invoked  (the shell name is specified in the password file).  Upon ter-
       mination of the shell, ksu deletes the  target  cache  (unless  ksu  is
       invoked with the -k option).  This is implemented by first doing a fork
       and then an exec, instead of just exec, as done by su.

CREATING A NEW SECURITY CONTEXT
       ksu can be used to create a new security context for the target program
       (either the target shell, or command specified via the -e option).  The
       target program inherits a set of credentials from the source user.   By
       default,  this  set includes all of the credentials in the source cache
       plus any additional credentials obtained  during  authentication.   The
       source user is able to limit the credentials in this set by using -z or
       -Z option.  -z restricts the copy of tickets from the source  cache  to
       the target cache to only the tickets where client == the target princi-
       pal name.  The -Z option provides the target user with a  fresh  target
       cache  (no  creds  in the cache).  Note that for security reasons, when
       the source user is root and target user is non-root, -z option  is  the
       default mode of operation.

       While  no  authentication  takes place if the source user is root or is
       the same as the target user, additional tickets can still  be  obtained
       for  the  target  cache.   If -n is specified and no credentials can be
       copied to the target cache, the source user is prompted for a  Kerberos
       password  (unless -Z specified or GET_TGT_VIA_PASSWD is undefined).  If
       successful, a TGT is obtained from the Kerberos server  and  stored  in
       the  target  cache.  Otherwise, if a password is not provided (user hit
       return) ksu continues in a normal mode of operation (the  target  cache
       will  not contain the desired TGT).  If the wrong password is typed in,
       ksu fails.

       Note   During authentication, only the tickets that could  be  obtained
              without providing a password are cached in in the source cache.

OPTIONS
       -n target_principal_name
              Specify  a  Kerberos target principal name.  Used in authentica-
              tion and authorization phases of ksu.

              If ksu is invoked  without  -n,  a  default  principal  name  is
              assigned via the following heuristic:

              o Case 1: source user is non-root.

                If  the  target  user is the source user the default principal
                name is set to the default principal of the source cache.   If
                the  cache  does  not exist then the default principal name is
                set to target_user@local_realm.   If  the  source  and  target
                users  are  different  and  neither  ~target_user/.k5users nor
                ~target_user/.k5login exist then the default principal name is
                target_user_login_name@local_realm.   Otherwise, starting with
                the first principal listed below, ksu checks if the  principal
                is  authorized  to access the target account and whether there
                is a legitimate ticket for that principal in the source cache.
                If  both conditions are met that principal becomes the default
                target principal, otherwise go to the next principal.

                a. default principal of the source cache

                b. target_user@local_realm

                c. source_user@local_realm

                If a-c fails try any principal for which there is a ticket  in
                the  source  cache and that is authorized to access the target
                account.  If that fails select the  first  principal  that  is
                authorized  to  access the target account from the above list.
                If  none  are  authorized   and   ksu   is   configured   with
                PRINC_LOOK_AHEAD  turned  on,  select the default principal as
                follows:

                For each candidate in the above  list,  select  an  authorized
                principal  that  has the same realm name and first part of the
                principal name equal to the  prefix  of  the  candidate.   For
                example   if  candidate  a)  is  jqpublic@ISI.EDU  and  jqpub-
                lic/secure@ISI.EDU is authorized to access the target  account
                then the default principal is set to jqpublic/secure@ISI.EDU.

              o Case 2: source user is root.

                If the target user is non-root then the default principal name
                is target_user@local_realm.  Else, if the source cache  exists
                the  default principal name is set to the default principal of
                the source cache.  If the source cache does not exist, default
                principal name is set to root\@local_realm.

       -c source_cache_name
          Specify  source  cache  name  (e.g.,  -c FILE:/tmp/my_cache).  If -c
          option is not used then the name is obtained from  KRB5CCNAME  envi-
          ronment  variable.   If  KRB5CCNAME  is not defined the source cache
          name is set to krb5cc_<source uid>.  The target cache name is  auto-
          matically set to krb5cc_<target uid>.(gen_sym()), where gen_sym gen-
          erates a new number such that the resulting cache does  not  already
          exist.  For example:

              krb5cc_1984.2

       -k     Do  not  delete  the target cache upon termination of the target
              shell or a command (-e command).  Without -k,  ksu  deletes  the
              target cache.

       -D     Turn on debug mode.

       -z     Restrict the copy of tickets from the source cache to the target
              cache to only the tickets where client == the  target  principal
              name.   Use the -n option if you want the tickets for other then
              the default principal.  Note that  the  -z  option  is  mutually
              exclusive with the -Z option.

       -Z     Don't  copy  any  tickets  from  the  source cache to the target
              cache.  Just create a fresh  target  cache,  where  the  default
              principal name of the cache is initialized to the target princi-
              pal name.  Note that the -Z option is  mutually  exclusive  with
              the -z option.

       -q     Suppress the printing of status messages.

       Ticket granting ticket options:

       -l lifetime -r time -pf
              The  ticket granting ticket options only apply to the case where
              there are no appropriate tickets in the  cache  to  authenticate
              the  source  user.   In this case if ksu is configured to prompt
              users for a Kerberos password (GET_TGT_VIA_PASSWD  is  defined),
              the  ticket  granting  ticket options that are specified will be
              used when getting a ticket granting  ticket  from  the  Kerberos
              server.

       -l lifetime
              (duration  string.)   Specifies the lifetime to be requested for
              the ticket; if this option is not specified, the default  ticket
              lifetime (12 hours) is used instead.

       -r time
              (duration  string.)   Specifies that the renewable option should
              be requested for the ticket, and  specifies  the  desired  total
              lifetime of the ticket.

       -p     specifies  that the proxiable option should be requested for the
              ticket.

       -f     option specifies that the forwardable option should be requested
              for the ticket.

       -e command [args ...]
              ksu  proceeds  exactly the same as if it was invoked without the
              -e option, except instead of executing  the  target  shell,  ksu
              executes the specified command. Example of usage:

                 ksu bob -e ls -lag

              The authorization algorithm for -e is as follows:

              If  the  source  user  is root or source user == target user, no
              authorization takes place  and  the  command  is  executed.   If
              source  user  id  !=  0, and ~target_user/.k5users file does not
              exist, authorization  fails.   Otherwise,  ~target_user/.k5users
              file  must have an appropriate entry for target principal to get
              authorized.

              The .k5users file format:

              A single principal entry on each line that may be followed by  a
              list of commands that the principal is authorized to execute.  A
              principal name followed by a * means that the user is authorized
              to execute any command.  Thus, in the following example:

                 jqpublic@USC.EDU ls mail /local/kerberos/klist
                 jqpublic/secure@USC.EDU *
                 jqpublic/admin@USC.EDU

              jqpublic@USC.EDU  is  only  authorized  to  execute ls, mail and
              klist commands.  jqpublic/secure@USC.EDU is authorized  to  exe-
              cute  any  command.  jqpublic/admin@USC.EDU is not authorized to
              execute  any  command.   Note,  that  jqpublic/admin@USC.EDU  is
              authorized to execute the target shell (regular ksu, without the
              -e option) but jqpublic@USC.EDU is not.

              The commands listed after the principal name must  be  either  a
              full  path  names or just the program name.  In the second case,
              CMD_PATH specifying the location of authorized programs must  be
              defined at the compilation time of ksu.  Which command gets exe-
              cuted?

              If the source user is root or the target user is the source user
              or  the user is authorized to execute any command (* entry) then
              command can be either a full or a relative path leading  to  the
              target  program.  Otherwise, the user must specify either a full
              path or just the program name.

       -a args
              Specify arguments to be passed to the target shell.   Note  that
              all  flags  and  parameters  following  -a will be passed to the
              shell, thus all options intended for ksu must precede -a.

              The -a option can be used to simulate the -e option if  used  as
              follows:

                 -a -c [command [arguments]].

              -c is interpreted by the c-shell to execute the command.

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
       ksu can be compiled with the following four flags:

       GET_TGT_VIA_PASSWD
              In  case  no  appropriate tickets are found in the source cache,
              the user will be prompted for a Kerberos password.  The password
              is  then  used to get a ticket granting ticket from the Kerberos
              server.  The danger of configuring ksu with this macro is if the
              source  user  is  logged  in remotely and does not have a secure
              channel, the password may get exposed.

       PRINC_LOOK_AHEAD
              During  the  resolution   of   the   default   principal   name,
              PRINC_LOOK_AHEAD  enables  ksu  to  find  principal names in the
              .k5users file as  described  in  the  OPTIONS  section  (see  -n
              option).

       CMD_PATH
              Specifies  a  list of directories containing programs that users
              are authorized to execute (via .k5users file).

       HAVE_GETUSERSHELL
              If the source user is non-root,  ksu  insists  that  the  target
              user's  shell to be invoked is a "legal shell".  getusershell(3)
              is called to obtain the names of "legal shells".  Note that  the
              target user's shell is obtained from the passwd file.

       Sample configuration:

              KSU_OPTS = -DGET_TGT_VIA_PASSWD -DPRINC_LOOK_AHEAD -DCMD_PATH='"/bin /usr/ucb /local/bin"

       ksu should be owned by root and have the set user id bit turned on.

       ksu attempts to get a ticket for the end server just as Kerberized tel-
       net and rlogin.  Thus, there must be an entry for  the  server  in  the
       Kerberos  database  (e.g.,  host/nii.isi.edu@ISI.EDU).  The keytab file
       must be in an appropriate location.

SIDE EFFECTS
       ksu deletes all expired tickets from the source cache.

AUTHOR OF KSU
       GENNADY (ARI) MEDVINSKY

AUTHOR
       MIT

COPYRIGHT
       1985-2013, MIT



1.12.1                                                                  KSU(1)
