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Unix Operating Systems Software BSD

Got Root? 20

Posted by AilleCat from the just-asking-for-trouble dept.
The Openroot project has started. Evidently, they have opened up root on a FreeBSD 4.1 machine to pretty much everyone. They have disabled any access to connect out from the machine, but you can connect to it on several key ports (like telnet on port 30 and ircd on port 6667). They have taken some pretty heavy precautions (like jailing it, a feature that was introduced with FreeBSD 4.x).(Update 11/24, BSD-Pat) kaworu has decided to use OpenBSD 2.7 instead. Openroot will probably be down until later tonight.

Its creator, known by "kaworu" on Openroot, is optimistic, although he's already been plagued by some immature users, he is pretty sure that, because of the restrictions, it will be a good sandbox and learning environment for all those who want to be systems administrators.

He also thinks it would be a good learning experience in security for himself, and some others who are willing to help out.

I wish them good luck!
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Got Root? More

Got Root?

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  • Something about it reminds me of the computer lab we had back in highschool. It was a pair of decrepit Xenix machines that were constantly getting rooted by the AP students. In fact we developed a set of unwritten rules for a game we eventually called Root Wars. It centered around trying to get on (and stay on) as root while preven others from doing so, without inconveniencing the normal users (too much).

    Of course, there was the time that a fork-bomb killed the IDE controller (actually, it was the idiot TA power-cycling the machine too fast when it stopped responding, but, everone still blames me for the hardware dammage...).
    I've always thought that something like this could be a successfull multi-player game, if handled with the right degree of abstraction (on par with the connection between Quake and real combat). A good Gibsonesqe hacking game...
  • I've pinged to it from locations in two different continents and there's no reply. Telnetting in on any port doesn't work either.

    It seems to be down.

  • Re:Don't even bother trying (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    he should have it reset from an image on an hourly basis or something. Maybe daily if that was feasible.
  • Someone destroyed the password database so kaworu took the machine offline to install OpenBSD 2.7 on it.
  • This is a wonderful idea for people who don't have access to a UNIX machine to learn! It is also a wonderful idea for people to simply have fun. You know, maybe work have it as an online community. It is pretty sad, however that people have been, constantly rebooting the system, halting it, and someone even messed up the password databases. For goodness sakes, let people use it without destroying it!
    -----

  • I do think that this is a great idea and also a way of giving back to the community. After all, people took their time to write good operating systems for the good of the community.

    Some people, who don't write programs, can indeed help the other members of the community by alternative ways. One of such ways is writing documentation. Another one is helping friends with. And another one, much less common inded, is to share one's resources to other members of the community so that the community can use these resources for its enlightening and common "growth".

    This would be the situation in an advanced community, where people would have the responsibility and know what they should and what they shouldn't do with respect to other members.

    It is quite sad that some people are messing kaworu's system.

    Perhaps some people are not yet prepared for living in community.

  • He let /etc be writeable! If I was idiotic enough to run an OpenRoot type a thing, I'd be sure to mount everything I could readonly.
  • An experiment like this envelopes the ideals of anarchy, and goes further than free speech to free action.

    It has relevance far beyond the fascination of root for those that don't have such access on a system.

  • Re:Don't even bother trying (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It's supposed to be a learning machine. If he mounted /etc readonly then people couldn't learn anything that manipulated configuration files.
  • Openroot's down again
    Nov 26 00:15:48 EST 2000

    Some slightly-more-sophisticated script kiddies brought Open Root down this time. Next time, Kaworu's really going to try to tighten the security even more than it was. We'll see how Kaworu's next revision does against the onslaught of script kiddies...

  • What to do as root? (Score:3)

    by Chacham ( 981 ) on Friday November 24, 2000 @09:30AM (#603812) Homepage Journal

    Knowing root on someone's machine, that just takes all the fun out of it. A number of people I know log in as root to their own boxes all the time, out of sheer laziness, so they won't have to su later. I wonder if they'd even know the difference.

  • I just wanted to say that your efforts in contributing to the community aren't going unnoticed. I certainly don't have the patience you do... I would have shut it off after the first people screwed it up. :) I can't understand the bastards that try to screw it up. Wow... they have the ability to 'own' a machine when they already have root on it. Lame.

    Anyhow, I'm hoping to do the same thing for some of my more advanced students (okay they're pretty young, but a few of them would do great with it) so they can access it from home etc. Hopefully it will give them a chance to learn something. One thing I know for sure, I won't be posting it to slashdot. :D

    Best of luck, and I hope the idiots decide to leave your project alone.

    --SONET
  • Remember this is just a kid. I am quite impressed with his knowledge of Security and UNIX.
    He is 14 and he knows more than some of the Certified people I have worked with.
  • hi,

    I think it's a great idea. I mean for sure you can get some shell accounts for free somewhere in Eastern Europe but to learn this is/would be a really great chance.
    I just don't know, if it will survive. There is much criminal energy out there and just wits to get a chance like that.
    Also the users obviously take advantage (in a bad way) of it and play with it. (e.g. cat /dev/urandom -> .bash_profile ...)

    So I really hope and wish that the project will succeed. Probably through some kind of automatic reinstallation all 10 minutes :p - don't know.

    I wish you the best,
    Mike
  • hi,

    just to give you the URL [compaq.com] of this offer:
    http://www.testdrive.compaq.com/

    (so this is not off-topic here a special *BSD-URL: http://www.testdrive.compaq.com/os/#bsd ;)

    have fun,
    Mi"nothing to do with CompaQ"ke
  • Stallman, in the early days of the Internet (we're talking early 1980s here), used to have no password on his account at MIT, so that anyone could log in. As is typical with Stallman, he did this to make a point about co-operation. I think he finally gave up on that sometime around 1984.
  • Why change to OpenBSD? And, btw, does OpenBSD have jail too?

  • Back up (Score:3)

    by metaphor ( 120934 ) on Saturday November 25, 2000 @10:48AM (#603819)

    Open-Root is back up again.

    Telnet to sekt7.org port 30, login as openroot with password Gotroot. Su to root with password Ihatelamers.

    Make sure you visit the OpenRoot homepage [open-root.org] and the discussion board to post any changes you've made on the system.

    The official IRC channel is irc.openprojects.net #openroot. Enjoy. We haven't had any script kiddies yet after switching to OpenBSD. Please keep it that way. Maybe it's OpenBSD's aura?

    Kayo, co-sysadmin

  • Yah really, its not as if security is an issue! rotflmao!
  • Looks like someone is trying a fork bomb, 147 processes and climbing!

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