Sun Enterprise Authentication Mechanism 1.0.1 Guide

How to Restrict Access for KDC servers

Both master and slave KDC servers have copies of the KDC database stored locally. Restricting access to these servers so that the databases are secure is important to the overall security of the SEAM installation.

  1. Disable remote services in /etc/inetd.conf.

    To provide a secure KDC server, all non-essential network services should be disabled by commenting out the entry that starts the service in /etc/inetd.conf. In most circumstances the only services that would need to run would be time and krdb5_kprop. In addition, any services that use loopback tli (ticlts, ticotsord, and ticots) can be left enabled. After editing, the file should look something like (to shorten the example many comments have been removed):


    kdc1 # cat /etc/inetd.conf
    #
    #ident  "@(#)inetd.conf 1.33    98/06/02 SMI"   /* SVr4.0 1.5   */
      .
      .
    #name     dgram   udp     wait    root    /usr/sbin/in.tnamed     in.tnamed
    #
    #shell    stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/sbin/in.rshd       in.rshd
    #login    stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/sbin/in.rlogind    in.rlogind
    #exec     stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/sbin/in.rexecd     in.rexecd
    #comsat   dgram   udp     wait    root    /usr/sbin/in.comsat     in.comsat
    #talk     dgram   udp     wait    root    /usr/sbin/in.talkd      in.talkd
    #
    #uucp     stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/sbin/in.uucpd      in.uucpd
    #
    #finger   stream  tcp     nowait  nobody  /usr/sbin/in.fingerd    in.fingerd
    #
    # Time service is used for clock synchronization.
    #
    time      stream  tcp     nowait  root    internal
    time      dgram   udp     wait    root    internal
    # 
      .
      .
    #
    100234/1  tli rpc/ticotsord wait  root    /usr/lib/gss/gssd     gssd 
    #dtspc    stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/dt/bin/dtspcd      /usr/dt/bin/dtspcd
    #100068/2-5 dgram rpc/udp wait    root    /usr/dt/bin/rpc.cmsd    rpc.cmsd
    100134/1 tli rpc/ticotsord wait   root    /usr/lib/ktkt_warnd kwarnd
    #klogin   stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/krb5/lib/rlogind   rlogind -k
    #eklogin  stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/krb5/lib/rlogind   rlogind -k -e
    #telnet   stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/krb5/lib/telnetd   telnetd
    #ftp      stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/krb5/lib/ftpd      ftpd
    #kshell   stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/krb5/lib/rshd      rshd -k -c -A
    krb5_prop stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/krb5/lib/kpropd  kpropd

    Reboot the server after the changes are made.

  2. Restrict access to the hardware supporting the KDC.

    In order to restrict physical access, make sure that the server and its monitor are located in a secure facility. Normal users should not be able to access this server in any way.

  3. Store KDC database backups on local disks or on the slaves.

    Making tape backups of your KDC should only be done if the tapes are stored securely. This is also true for copies of keytab files. It would be best to store these files on a local file system that is not shared to other systems. The storage file system can be on either the master KDC server or any of the slaves.