RE: [cobalt-security] OpenSSH 3.4p1 for MIPS released on PkgMaster.com

["Graeme Fowler" <graeme.fowler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Audric wrote:
> I have done so and.... WHY ON EARTH DO I HAVE A NEW USER sshd !!???

That would be because of some fundamental changes to the operation of OpenSSH in version 3.4, namely Privilege Separation (see below). IIRC that the 'sshd' user was put in place sometime around OpenSSH 2.5, to enable the ssh daemon to run as a user other than root and thus reduce the chances of privilege escalation to root.

Privilege Separation is a new method of running the SSH daemon to allow much less of the code to run as root. Effectively the bulk of the daemon runs in userland as user 'sshd', chrooted into /var/empty/sshd.

I suggest you read the CHANGELOG found at http://www.openssh.org for more info (if it isn't actually in the package!).

Graeme
-- 
Graeme Fowler
System Administrator
Host Europe Group PLC