Xlib error

[Robert Brockway]

On Wed, 26 Jan 2005, John Vetterli wrote:

> Well, disabling access control with "xhost +" is considered to be
> insecure, since then anybody who can access your machine's port 6000 (or

Yes, xhost + is a bad idea.

> 6001, or 6002, etc. depending on how many X servers you have running)
> could then put their windows on your display, destroy windows that your
> applications are using, take snapshots of your desktop (maybe), or

Definitely - xwd can be used to do this.  Stealing keystrokes is another 
possibility.  I used to have a piece of reference code that would steal 
keystrokes from an insecure X desktop.  I seem to have misplaced it.

> change your wallpaper to pictures of Michael Jackson.  So "xhost -" is
> the default.

These days X11 forwarding over ssh can be used to allow secure remote 
access anyway.  Only do this if you trust the admins on the remote box
though.  The rule of only using a box if you trust the admins should hold 
anyway.

Rob

-- 
Robert Brockway B.Sc.
Senior Technical Consultant, OpenTrend Solutions Ltd.
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