[MAPREDUCE-2103] task-controller shouldn't require o-r permissions

• Type: Improvement
• Status: Closed
• Priority: Trivial
• Resolution: Fixed
• Affects Version/s: 0.22.0
• Fix Version/s: 0.22.0, 1.1.0
• Component/s: task-controller
• Target Version/s: 0.22.0, 1.1.0
• Hadoop Flags: Reviewed
• Assignee: Todd Lipcon
• Reporter: Todd Lipcon
• Created: 04/Oct/10 08:08
• Updated: 17/Oct/12 22:27
• Resolved: 14/May/11 02:12

Description

The task-controller currently checks that "other" users don't have read permissions. This is unnecessary - we just need to make it's not executable. The debian policy manual explains it well:

Setuid and setgid executables should be mode 4755 or 2755 respectively, and owned by the appropriate user or group. They should not be made unreadable (modes like 4711 or 2711 or even 4111); doing so achieves no extra security, because anyone can find the binary in the freely available Debian package; it is merely inconvenient. For the same reason you should not restrict read or execute permissions on non-set-id executables.

Some setuid programs need to be restricted to particular sets of users, using file permissions. In this case they should be owned by the uid to which they are set-id, and by the group which should be allowed to execute them. They should have mode 4754; again there is no point in making them unreadable to those users who must not be allowed to execute them.

Issue Links

• blocks: HADOOP-7025 Update docs on task-controller permissions after MAPREDUCE-2103
• is depended upon by: HADOOP-8357 Restore security in Hadoop 0.22 branch