Incorrect text found in openssh-client/auth-file.c:542

[Daryl Lublink]

Binary package hint: metacity

install the openssh-client source code, look at auth-file.c and see this stanza :

int
key_perm_ok(int fd, const char *filename)
{
     struct stat st;

     if (fstat(fd, &st) < 0)
          return 0;
     /*
      * if a key owned by the user is accessed, then we check the
      * permissions of the file. if the key owned by a different user,
      * then we don't care.
      */
#ifdef HAVE_CYGWIN
     if (check_ntsec(filename))
#endif
     if ((st.st_uid == getuid()) && (st.st_mode & 077) != 0) {
          error("@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@");
          error("@ WARNING: UNPROTECTED PRIVATE KEY FILE! @");
          error("@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@");
          error("Permissions 0%3.3o for '%s' are too open.",
              (u_int)st.st_mode & 0777, filename);
          error("It is recommended that your private key files are NOT accessible by others.");
          error("This private key will be ignored.");
          return 0;
     }
     return 1;
}

The text "It is recommended that your private key files are NOT accessible by others." should read "It is not permitted....".

There is no work around to use a non-protected private key, therefore it is incorrect to say recommend.

[Daryl Lublink (dlublink)]

Sorry, wrong package...

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

Thanks for your patch. This ought to be sent upstream rather than being incorporated into the Ubuntu package directly. I'll forward it.

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

David Lublink reported the following as an Ubuntu bug:

int
key_perm_ok(int fd, const char *filename)
{
[...]
          error("Permissions 0%3.3o for '%s' are too open.",
              (u_int)st.st_mode & 0777, filename);
          error("It is recommended that your private key files are NOT accessible by others.");
          error("This private key will be ignored.");
          return 0;
     }
     return 1;
}

The text "It is recommended that your private key files are NOT accessible by others." should read "It is not permitted....".

There is no workaround to use a non-protected private key, therefore it is incorrect to say "recommended".

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

Forwarded as https://bugzilla.mindrot.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1878 (feel free to follow up there), and unsubscribed ubuntu-sponsors.

[Damien Miller (djm)]

patch applied - thanks

[Damien Miller (djm)]

close resolved bugs now that openssh-5.9 has been released

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package openssh - 1:5.9p1-1ubuntu1

---------------
openssh (1:5.9p1-1ubuntu1) precise; urgency=low

  * Resynchronise with Debian. Remaining changes:
    - Add support for registering ConsoleKit sessions on login.
    - Drop openssh-blacklist and openssh-blacklist-extra to Suggests.
    - Convert to Upstart. The init script is still here for the benefit of
      people running sshd in chroots.
    - Install apport hook.
    - Add mention of ssh-keygen in ssh connect warning.

openssh (1:5.9p1-1) unstable; urgency=low

  * New upstream release (http://www.openssh.org/txt/release-5.9).
    - Introduce sandboxing of the pre-auth privsep child using an optional
      sshd_config(5) "UsePrivilegeSeparation=sandbox" mode that enables
      mandatory restrictions on the syscalls the privsep child can perform.
    - Add new SHA256-based HMAC transport integrity modes from
      http://www.ietf.org/id/draft-dbider-sha2-mac-for-ssh-02.txt.
    - The pre-authentication sshd(8) privilege separation slave process now
      logs via a socket shared with the master process, avoiding the need to
      maintain /dev/log inside the chroot (closes: #75043, #429243,
      #599240).
    - ssh(1) now warns when a server refuses X11 forwarding (closes:
      #504757).
    - sshd_config(5)'s AuthorizedKeysFile now accepts multiple paths,
      separated by whitespace (closes: #76312). The authorized_keys2
      fallback is deprecated but documented (closes: #560156).
    - ssh(1) and sshd(8): set IPv6 traffic class from IPQoS, as well as IPv4
      ToS/DSCP (closes: #498297).
    - ssh-add(1) now accepts keys piped from standard input. E.g. "ssh-add
      - < /path/to/key" (closes: #229124).
    - Clean up lost-passphrase text in ssh-keygen(1) (closes: #444691).
    - Say "required" rather than "recommended" in unprotected-private-key
      warning (LP: #663455).
  * Update OpenSSH FAQ to revision 1.112.
 -- Colin Watson <email address hidden> Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:04:47 +0100