MacX and Ultrix 4.0

[John T Kohl]

In article <BARNETT.91Mar1130837 at grymoire.crd.ge.com> barnett at grymoire.crd.ge.com (Bruce Barnett) writes:

> The release notes of MacX 1.1 says there is a problem with Ultrix 4.0
> and the rexecd daemon...

> Does anyone understand why there is a problem? Is there a new protocol
> or authentication done (aka Kerberos?). Which vendor should I flame? :-)

Flame the vendor of MacX for using rexecd.  rexecd is an ancient daemon
which asks for username and password in cleartext.  Using it on an open
network is not advisable.

The workstations at MIT Project Athena don't run it.  Nothing in 4.3BSD
source calls the library routines which contact it.  You shouldn't use
it either.

[rshd is slightly better, in that it doesn't let you type a password,
but it does rely on IP addresses.  They can be forged, but it takes more
work than it does to steal a password.]
--
John Kohl <jtkohl at ATHENA.MIT.EDU> or <jtkohl at MIT.EDU>
Digital Equipment Corporation/Project Athena
(The above opinions are MINE.  Don't put my words in somebody else's mouth!)