Re: [PLUG] Linux boot disk to replace XP Admin password?

[Fred K Ollinger <follinge@sas.upenn.edu>]

> Using this utility works when trying to just blank the password for
> Administrator. However, you cannot login as administrator (or use the
> 'runas' service) unless you lower the workstation's overall security policy
> by allowing blank password length in account policies and disabling the
> 'Limit local account use of blank passowrds to console login only' policy in
> Local Security Settings.
>
> I see this as a major threat to security of local workstations in an
> enterprise environment. Why? Because now someone can use this utility to
> blank out the password of the local Administrator account and quietly access
> the contents of the workstation's disk from somewhere else on the local
> network.

If are trusting a client accessible machine to lockdown a server, game
over, forget about security.

If have a bootable cdrom drive on a machine, game over, forget about
security.

There's really nothing you can do to lock down a client accessible
machine. Even a bios password can usually be reset by resetting a jumper.

Then one can merely boot w/ the appropriate disk to gain access.

Heck, now that they have these new bootable firewire drives, any machine
that supports that is also wide open. Mac hardware users can talk more
about this. Can one put the macos on a iPod and use it to boot a mac? I
don't know.

Anyway, I appreciate your comment about how windows protocols mean that a
compromised client can compromise the server. I didn't know that, and I'm
not an expert on security. Can someone please post how to stop this? If I
have an NT box locked down as a fileserver only, in a closet, how do I
assure that this isn't broken into when someone knocks over the public
terminal clients?

Fred Ollinger
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