Server-Side NFS Security
Because NFS allows users on a network to access files stored on the server, NFS has significant security implications for the server. These implications fall into three broad categories:
- Client access
NFS can (and should) be configured so that only certain clients on the network can mount filesystems stored on the server.
- User authentication
NFS can (and should) be configured so that users can access and alter only files to which they have been granted access.
- Eavesdropping and data spoofing
NFS should (but does not) protect information on the network from eavesdropping and surreptitious modification.
Limiting Client Access: /etc/exports and /etc/dfs/dfstab
The NFS server can be configured so that only certain hosts are allowed to mount filesystems on the server. This is a very important step in maintaining server security: if an unauthorized host is denied the ability to mount a filesystem, then unauthorized users on that host should not be able to access the server’s files. This configuration is controlled by settings in a file. Depending on the version of Unix/Linux/etc. that you are using, the specific file structure and usage is different. Systems with a BSD heritage use /etc/exports, and systems with a System V heritage use /etc/dfs/dfstab.
/etc/exports
Many versions of Unix, including Sun’s SunOS, HP’s HP-UX, SGI’s IRIX, and Linux use the /etc/exports file to designate which clients can mount the server’s filesystem and what access those clients can ...
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