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Re: ipop3 file permissions setup

 
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Vernon Brown_4
Trusted Contributor

ipop3 file permissions setup

I get the following error out of LogWatch each morning. What are the chmod xxx numbers that will result in the 1777 protection ??

**Unmatched Entries** Mailbox vulnerable - directory /var/spool/mail must have 1777 protection: 54 Time(s) ---------------------- ipop3d End -------------------------

Thanks for any response !!
6 REPLIES 6
unknown_6
Advisor
Solution

Re: ipop3 file permissions setup

Greetings,
First I'd like to suggest a trip to:
man chmod. You'll find it an invaluable trip.
You can also get similar results on the web at:
http://man.dnswatch.com (for *BSD but very
similar). OK, and now for the answer to your
question...
You need to type chmod 1777 (whatever directory
it's complaining about), eg;
chmod 1777 mymailbox. You might be confused
because of the 4th octet as most ppl are more
accustomed to seeing (or using 3). The extra
octet is the "sticky" bit. Meaning all subs
of the folder inherit the same premissions
as it's parent.

Have fun!

Chris out...
Steven E. Protter
Exalted Contributor

Re: ipop3 file permissions setup

cd /var/mail

make the permissions look like this:

-rw------- 1 root mail 31098315 Jul 1 13:18 root


This applies to all files.

The group on allthese files needs to be mail.

The intended user must own it.

When I got this message, what I recommend above is all I did. The message did not go away immediately, but eventually did.

Don't do a chomod 1777, just look for files with those permissions. You probably won't find any.

SEP
Steven E Protter
Owner of ISN Corporation
http://isnamerica.com
http://hpuxconsulting.com
Sponsor: http://hpux.ws
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hpuxlinux
Founder http://newdatacloud.com
Steven E. Protter
Exalted Contributor

Re: ipop3 file permissions setup

Its probably okay to chmod 1777 the directory.

Here are my permissions RH ES 3

drwxr-xr-x 17 root root 4096 Feb 21 21:03

Not getting the error.

SEP
Jerusalem
Steven E Protter
Owner of ISN Corporation
http://isnamerica.com
http://hpuxconsulting.com
Sponsor: http://hpux.ws
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hpuxlinux
Founder http://newdatacloud.com
Vernon Brown_4
Trusted Contributor

Re: ipop3 file permissions setup

Ok thanks; I'll give it a shot. I didn't see how chmod 1777 could work to make the Mailbox less vulnerable; seems like it would be more so.

Vern
Vernon Brown_4
Trusted Contributor

Re: ipop3 file permissions setup

After a trip to man chmod I see that the sticky bit set on a directory makes it so that only root can change or remove files in the directory. The stickybit not set must be causing the complaint.

Vern
Stuart Browne
Honored Contributor

Re: ipop3 file permissions setup

Sticky bit (also usually on /tmp/) is set to allow only root, or the person who created the file to remove it.
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