disabling finger completely

[Barbara Flynn_1]

Hi

I am trying to disable finger on a 11.11 server, I have commented the entry from both the /etc/inetd.conf and services files, and rebooted the server but I can still run the finger command on the server!

Any ideas on how to stop this???

Thanks Barbara

[Pete Randall · Accepted solution]

mv /usr/bin/finger /usr/bin/usedtobefinger
- or -
rm /usr/bin/finger


Pete

[Patrick Wallek]

Move the finger command to finger.old.

Commenting out the lines in /etc/inetd.conf and /etc/services prevents someone from using finger on another machine to query your machine.

# finger @machine_name

Would result in a 'connection refused' error which is really what you want.

[Francis_12]

Hello Barbara,

To disable finger from remote connections, comment out the entries
in /etc/services and /etc/inetd.conf, restart inetd with the -c option. Test
using; finger @hostname.domain

Note; You will still be able to use finger on the system local, this can be
disabled by removing the execute permissions on the executable.

Hope this helps, Bye.

Francis DERDEYN - HP-UX ASCE.

[Graham Cameron_1]

Barbara

What you did would prevent anyone from another machine running finger against your machine.
ie "finger @yourmc" will be disabled.

What Pete suggests will stop people running the "finger" command on your maching by renaming or removing the /usr/bin/finger command.

*BUT* - your really devious users may find that there is another copy of finger on /bin/finger - you should rename or remove that also.

BTW - what have you got against "finger" ???

[Barbara Flynn_1]

All

Thanks for the help, problem solved, I had assumed that blocking the ports etc would be enough to stop the process on the machine itself.

Graham, I am hardening a server for a DMZ and finger is a security baddie!

Cheers Barbara

[Chris Vail]

Move or rename the finger command in /usr/bin. A niftier way to do this is to write a shell script, and refer to that shell script in /etc/inetd.conf.


Chris

[Bill Hassell]

I would suggest getting a copy of Chris Wong's book HP-UX 11i Security. It covers the details quite well. I would also suggest getting a copy of Bastille for HP-UX (there is also a version for Linux too). Bastille will walk you through the services and ports but since it knows all the rules and metyhods, it will turn them off correctly. The nice part is that it walks you through the steps with detailed explanations.

[GK_5]

Remove finger from /etc/services, comment it in /etc/inetd.conf and run "# inetd -c"

-GK-

[Qchi321]

Where exactly do you type this in at?