Discussion on:

Using Apache and chroot to trap hackers

What a fun little exercise. How does this affect which files can be served up by Apache? Do they need to be located under the trap directory? If so, this seems it would have a somewhat limited use.

Hi,

I was really taken in by the title and devoured the article. I must admit I got lost half way through and would not dare implement this in case I did something incorrectly (which could actually open up new - even easier - avenues to intruders).

Perhaps you could have added a little "test routine" at the end?

If you ever find the time to revise this article, I suggest you give a somewhat more thorough explanation of some of the steps you outline, so that readers with a limited knowledge of UNIX can still follow you!

Thanks,

cis.

I've thought about setting up a chroot for Apache as I work on tracking this particularly annoying hacker, and I appreciate being reminded of how to go about it. I'm a professional *nix Sysadmin, and this is exactly what I needed.

As others have pointed out, this is not a "paint-by-number" for newbies. And it is good that it is written is such a way as to discourage them. This type of work can totally break your webserver (it is actually intended to semi-break your webserver, in a very specific way), so if you don't know what to do, best stay away. The specific step-by-step (which some should probably write) will be very specific to particular Unix/Linux versions, the webhosting setup, the CP used, etc. For me, wading through all that to get to the kernel of the matter is pretty tedious; I really appreciate an article that gives me the important points without getting lost in the details.