The Server Daemon

[Richard Troy <rtroy at sciencetools dot com>]

Hi All,

So, I'm trying to get started with implementing the honoring of the suid
bit by cygwin. I've downloaded the source and performed a build (which
failed - the tail of make.log is below). So, I jumped into the source
directory and looked at what was there. I started with the cygserver*
files, as, if I'm not mistaken, that's where I'd need to be working... I
went on to read the ROADMAP and most how-*.txt files, exec.cc, and other
important looking files.

As a recap, what I need from cygwin is the honoring of the suid bit, so 
that execution of an image with this bit set is executed in the context of 
the user identified in the file system as owner. I'd also be happy with 
any other alternative which lets my application code run in a security 
context other than that of the user without having to give that user any 
special privileges.

There were a number of things in there that I _didn't_ see, most notably 
some documentation on the intended architecture of the daemon/server. I 
didn't find any working copies of it either. ...In reading the code, it's 
clear to me that I need some help understanding the architecture. What is 
this code intended to do? Is it intended to move the cygwin shared memory 
into a protected environment to close the existing security hole? Or, just 
what were the motives for creating it? What's its development status? I 
noticed comments about not being thread-safe in parts - what's up with 
that? There's talk of running two instances simultaneously someday - how 
does that fit into development plans? How is it installed and loaded? How 
do I give it privileges?

And, as an asside, comments about things like this would be great to have 
in the source code itself!

Yes, I could write the individuals mentioned in the source, but Corinna 
dictated that we should keep our dialogues here. In deference to her, I'm 
posting here...

Your input greatly appreciated.

Richard


___ Tail of make.log ___


c++ -L/d/d1/RT/cygwin/obj/i686-pc-cygwin/winsup -L/d/d1/RT/cygwin/obj/i686-pc-cy
gwin/winsup/cygwin -L/d/d1/RT/cygwin/obj/i686-pc-cygwin/winsup/w32api/lib -isyst
em /d/d1/RT/cygwin/src/winsup/include -isystem /d/d1/RT/cygwin/src/winsup/cygwin
/include -isystem /d/d1/RT/cygwin/src/winsup/w32api/include -isystem 
/d/d1/RT/cygwin/src/newlib/libc/sys/cygwin -isystem /d/d1/RT/cygwin/src/newlib/libc/sys/cyg
win32 -B/d/d1/RT/cygwin/obj/i686-pc-cygwin/newlib/ -isystem /d/d1/RT/cygwin/obj/
i686-pc-cygwin/newlib/targ-include -isystem /d/d1/RT/cygwin/src/newlib/libc/include -MMD -g -O2 -mno-cygwin -I. -I/d/d1/RT/cygwin/src/winsup/cinstall 
-I/d/d1/RT/cygwin/src/winsup/mingw/include  -I/d/d1/RT/cygwin/src/winsup/bz2lib 
-mwindows -c -o mklink2.o ../../../../src/winsup/cinstall/mklink2.cc
../../../../src/winsup/cinstall/mklink2.cc: In function `void 
make_link_2(const char *, const char *, const char *, const char *)':
../../../../src/winsup/cinstall/mklink2.cc:24: cannot convert 
`CLSID_ShellLink' from type `const GUID' to type `const CLSID *'
../../../../src/winsup/cinstall/mklink2.cc:25: cannot convert `IID_IPersistFile'
 from type `_GUID' to type `const IID *'
make[2]: *** [mklink2.o] Error 1
make[2]: Leaving directory `/d/d1/RT/cygwin/obj/i686-pc-cygwin/winsup/cinstall'
make[1]: *** [cinstall] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/d/d1/RT/cygwin/obj/i686-pc-cygwin/winsup'
make: *** [all-target-winsup] Error 2

Any ideas what went wrong?

-- 
Richard Troy, Chief Scientist
Science Tools Corporation 
rtroy@ScienceTools.com, 510-567-9957, http://ScienceTools.com/


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