Skip to Content
Linux Shells by Example
book

Linux Shells by Example

by Ellie Quigley
May 2000
Beginner
761 pages
18h 20m
English
Pearson
Content preview from Linux Shells by Example

11.9. setuid Scripts

Whoever runs a setuid program temporarily (as long as he or she is running the setuid program) becomes the owner of that program and has the same permissions as the owner. The passwd program is a good example of a setuid program. When you change your password, you temporarily become root, but only during the execution of the passwd program. That is why you are able to change your password in the /etc/passwd (or /etc/shadow) file, which is off-limits to regular users.

Shell programs can be written as setuid programs. You might want to do this if you have a script that is accessing a file containing information that should not be accessible to regular users, such as salary or personal information. If the script is a setuid ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

AirBnbBlueOriginElectronic ArtsHomeDepotNasdaqRakutenTata Consultancy Services

QuotationMarkO’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
QuotationMarkI wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
QuotationMarkI’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
QuotationMarkI'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
Mark W.
Embedded Software Engineer

You might also like

Linux Shell Scripting Bootcamp

Linux Shell Scripting Bootcamp

James K Lewis

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0130147117Purchase book