The ADM user/group

[Nadav Har'El]

On Mon, Jan 24, 2011, Michael Ben-Nes wrote about "The ADM user/group":
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I been asked to remove the adm group from one of the system I manage.
> What is the purpose of this group?

If I remember correctly, the original purpose of this group was to have
certain system files, e.g., /var/log/messages, which are normally readable
only to root, readable also to the "adm" (administrators) group, so that if
you were an administrator, you could, for example, read the logs without
needing to su (or sudo) first.

That being said, on my system (Fedora 14), I don't see any file with group
adm, or any real user with this group, so it appears it isn't used at all.

> Will the removal contribute to the general security of the OS?

I would say the answer is NO. Why would you think it would?


-- 
Nadav Har'El                        |      Monday, Jan 24 2011, 19 Shevat 5771
nyh at math.technion.ac.il             |-----------------------------------------
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