Trusted versus Non-Trusted

[Wayne Widener]

Does the directory / file names differ where the OS stores user account info for a trusted system versus non trusted? Things like min password length and other parameters?

[Pete Randall]

On a trusted system the user account info is stored in the /tcb directory structure rather than in /etc/passwd.

I'm not sure what you're asking about min password length - where it's stored? In /tcb.


Pete

[A. Clay Stephenson]

There is no simple answer to your question because some of the are stored in the passwd file on standard systems and in the tcb database on trusted systems. For example, the passwd aging fields are stored as 4 comma-separated base-64 characters that occur after the 13-character password hash in /etc/passwd on standard systems but in trusted systems these are stored in the tcb database.

Other values (e.g. minimum password length) are stored in /etc/default/security independent of the security model.

For trusted systems, there are two-levels of parameters. Each user might have a value defined in his /tcb/files/auth/first_char_of_login/login entry. If so, that is the value that is used. If there is no value defined, then the system wide value found in /tcb/files/auth/system/default take effect.

Man prpwd, passwd, security for details.

[A. Clay Stephenson]

I should also add that there are a number of parameters available for trusted systems that are not available otherwise so for those parameters your question is a non sequitur.

Other differences are that because of how the data are encoded, password aging parameters have a minimum resolution of 1 week in a standard system but 1 second in a trusted system.

[Wayne Widener]

Much thanks for the responses. I appreciate it greatly.

[whiteknight]

Hi Wayne,

You can refer to Trusted System Section
"Managing Trusted Passwords and System Access" for detail info

http://docs.hp.com/en/B2355-90950/ch08s10.html


WK

p/s: Please assign points.