When I am doing a lot of sudo operations, I like to spawn a bash shell from sudo

Question

When I am doing a lot of sudo operations, I like to spawn a bash shell from sudo to make the operations go quicker. I am against assigning a root password because I do not like the root account enabled because it is an easy target for hackers.

There are a couple of security concerns I have with using sudo bash as well, but to me it seems safer than just enabling the root user all together.

Which option is safer? Using sudo bash to obtain a root level shell as a nomal user, or just enabling the root account and using su root to gain root access?

Explanation / Answer

For a single-user system, there's not much difference between the two from a security perspective: in either case, the attacker needs to guess one password to gain superuser privileges.

The big difference shows up in a situation where you've got multiple administrators. In that case, requiring sudo creates an audit trail of exactly who performed which administrative action.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse W
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.