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PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175265] Wed, 31 August 2011 00:23 Go to next message
jwcarlton is currently offline  jwcarlton
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I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
accesses?

I wouldn't mind encoding the page, too, JUST in case I have a root
breach (not expected, of course, but not impossible). Since I would
only need to encode one page, once, would it be reasonable to use the
free trial of Zend Guard? Or would you guys suggest something
different?

TIA,

Jason
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175266 is a reply to message #175265] Wed, 31 August 2011 00:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Peter H. Coffin is currently offline  Peter H. Coffin
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On Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:23:06 -0700 (PDT), jwcarlton wrote:
> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
> predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
> accesses?

No. But you can make it only accessable to the user who's ID is being
used to run the job by crond. See the documentation for the user
permissions for whatever OS is running thing. On unix-like systems, you
want to look at chmod(1). More detail than this isn't topical for a php
newsgroup, though.

> I wouldn't mind encoding the page, too, JUST in case I have a root
> breach (not expected, of course, but not impossible). Since I would
> only need to encode one page, once, would it be reasonable to use the
> free trial of Zend Guard? Or would you guys suggest something
> different?

Way, way, way too complicated. Stop thinking "page", start thinking
"script file".

--
72. If all the heroes are standing together around a strange device and
begin to taunt me, I will pull out a conventional weapon instead of
using my unstoppable superweapon on them.
--Peter Anspach's list of things to do as an Evil Overlord
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175267 is a reply to message #175266] Wed, 31 August 2011 02:16 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jwcarlton is currently offline  jwcarlton
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>> I wouldn't mind encoding the page, too, JUST in case I have a root
>> breach (not expected, of course, but not impossible). Since I would
>> only need to encode one page, once, would it be reasonable to use the
>> free trial of Zend Guard? Or would you guys suggest something
>> different?
>
> Way, way, way too complicated. Stop thinking "page", start thinking
> "script file".

I'm not sure that I follow. If a hacker gains root access, I don't
want them to be able to go to the cron page and obtain the encryption
keys in the page; otherwise, they'll be able to get all of the
otherwise nicely secured data.

If not Zend Guard, what else do you recommend?
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175269 is a reply to message #175265] Wed, 31 August 2011 06:34 Go to previous messageGo to next message
alvaro.NOSPAMTHANX is currently offline  alvaro.NOSPAMTHANX
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El 31/08/2011 2:23, jwcarlton escribió/wrote:
> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
> predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
> accesses?
>
> I wouldn't mind encoding the page, too, JUST in case I have a root
> breach (not expected, of course, but not impossible). Since I would
> only need to encode one page, once, would it be reasonable to use the
> free trial of Zend Guard? Or would you guys suggest something
> different?

I'm sure you can get the process tree, find out whether the parent of
your script's PID belongs to the cron binary and abort otherwise.
However, the second paragraph talks about hackers and encoding, which
gives the impression that non-cron execution is not the problem itself
but you solution to some unmentioned problem.

I say so because it's pretty common that non-root users are allowed to
schedule cron tasks and, of course, root is able to run any script on
disc no matter the file permissions. Are those situations acceptable?

--
-- http://alvaro.es - Álvaro G. Vicario - Burgos, Spain
-- Mi sitio sobre programación web: http://borrame.com
-- Mi web de humor satinado: http://www.demogracia.com
--
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175271 is a reply to message #175265] Wed, 31 August 2011 06:43 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Goran is currently offline  Goran
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On 31.8.2011 2:23, jwcarlton wrote:
> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
> predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
> accesses?

I guess your plan is to put that script inside a public directory. Thats
wrong... put it in some non-public directory end execute it via CLI
(from cron). That way it will be secured from non privileged users.

Forget about securing it from root user, it is not possible.
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175273 is a reply to message #175265] Wed, 31 August 2011 08:20 Go to previous messageGo to next message
The Natural Philosoph is currently offline  The Natural Philosoph
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jwcarlton wrote:
> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
> predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
> accesses?
>

1/. Write it in a proper language for this purpose, C, not php

2/. Check the id of the parent process: compare that with running
processes . If it ain't cron abort the program.

3/. When you have it working, delete the source code.


> I wouldn't mind encoding the page, too, JUST in case I have a root
> breach (not expected, of course, but not impossible).


That's the second reason to write it in C.

Since I would
> only need to encode one page, once, would it be reasonable to use the
> free trial of Zend Guard? Or would you guys suggest something
> different?
>

Why not start with the right approach, instead of patching the wrong
approach?

I like PHP. But its not the only language in town and this is where I
would definitely get out the C compiler

> TIA,
>
> Jason
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175274 is a reply to message #175273] Wed, 31 August 2011 09:14 Go to previous messageGo to next message
jwcarlton is currently offline  jwcarlton
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>> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
>> predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
>> accesses?
>
> 1/. Write it in a proper language for this purpose, C, not php
>
> 2/. Check the id of the parent process: compare that with running
> processes . If it ain't cron abort the program.
>
> 3/. When you have it working, delete the source code.
>
>> I wouldn't mind encoding the page, too, JUST in case I have a root
>> breach (not expected, of course, but not impossible).
>
> That's the second reason to write it in C.
>
> Since I would
>
>> only need to encode one page, once, would it be reasonable to use the
>> free trial of Zend Guard? Or would you guys suggest something
>> different?
>
> Why not start with the right approach, instead of patching the wrong
> approach?
>
> I like PHP. But its not the only language in town and this is where I
> would definitely get out the C compiler

I think you make an excellent point, NP. It's been awhile since I've
messed with C and have forgotten more than I should, but I think
you're right that it's the appropriate language.

In retrospect, I don't know if I've EVER coded in C. I think I started
in C++. Oh, well, it's not a big deal to go find a compiler and see
what I remember :-) "Hello World", here I come! LOL

FWIW, Alvaro, I don't really have a problem, I'm just trying to
prevent one before it has a chance to happen :-) I figure that it's
better to tighten it up the best that I can in the beginning, instead
of trying to come back to it later. I'm more or less just playing with
this script right now, anyway.
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175281 is a reply to message #175267] Wed, 31 August 2011 12:15 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Peter H. Coffin is currently offline  Peter H. Coffin
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On Tue, 30 Aug 2011 19:16:00 -0700 (PDT), jwcarlton wrote:
>>> I wouldn't mind encoding the page, too, JUST in case I have a root
>>> breach (not expected, of course, but not impossible). Since I would
>>> only need to encode one page, once, would it be reasonable to use the
>>> free trial of Zend Guard? Or would you guys suggest something
>>> different?
>>
>> Way, way, way too complicated. Stop thinking "page", start thinking
>> "script file".
>
> I'm not sure that I follow. If a hacker gains root access, I don't
> want them to be able to go to the cron page and obtain the encryption
> keys in the page; otherwise, they'll be able to get all of the
> otherwise nicely secured data.
>
> If not Zend Guard, what else do you recommend?

If an attacker gets root access, inside the system, the attacker has the
encryption keys, no matter where you bury them. Might as well make sure
that nobody can get them from *outside* the system, which you can
actually do something about.

--
When C++ is your hammer, everything looks like a thumb.
-- Steven M. Haflich
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175282 is a reply to message #175274] Wed, 31 August 2011 12:53 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Peter H. Coffin is currently offline  Peter H. Coffin
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On Wed, 31 Aug 2011 02:14:58 -0700 (PDT), jwcarlton wrote:
>>> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
>>> predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
>>> accesses?
>>
>> 1/. Write it in a proper language for this purpose, C, not php

Won't gain much relevant. Compilation isn't even obfuscation, much less
encryption. Run strings on a compiled c program sometime.

>> 2/. Check the id of the parent process: compare that with running
>> processes . If it ain't cron abort the program.

Marginal. Are you 100% sure, though, that cron will always spawn it
directly? On my host, it doesn't; cron spawns a process that sets up
the environment, which then spawns the actual command in the cron job
and accepts output for mailing back to the owning user, if any, then
exists itself.

----------------
#!/bin/ksh

echo "this process $$";
echo "parent process $PPID";
----------------

run by cron outputs

----------------
this process 20206
parent process 18169
----------------

while cron is pid 547:

$ ps aux | grep cron
----------------
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TT STAT STARTED TIME COMMAND
----------------
root 547 0.0 0.0 632 868 ?? Is 22Jun11 0:13.07 cron

>> 3/. When you have it working, delete the source code.

So you can NEVER MAKE CHANGES AGAIN! (Okay, yes, you can keep a backup
elsewhere. Which makes it really easy to lose track of.)

>>> I wouldn't mind encoding the page, too, JUST in case I have a root
>>> breach (not expected, of course, but not impossible).
>>
>> That's the second reason to write it in C.
>>
>> Since I would
>>
>>> only need to encode one page, once, would it be reasonable to use the
>>> free trial of Zend Guard? Or would you guys suggest something
>>> different?
>>
>> Why not start with the right approach, instead of patching the wrong
>> approach?
>>
>> I like PHP. But its not the only language in town and this is where I
>> would definitely get out the C compiler
>
> I think you make an excellent point, NP. It's been awhile since I've
> messed with C and have forgotten more than I should, but I think
> you're right that it's the appropriate language.
>
> In retrospect, I don't know if I've EVER coded in C. I think I started
> in C++. Oh, well, it's not a big deal to go find a compiler and see
> what I remember :-) "Hello World", here I come! LOL

Best of luck to you. I hope you have the time to build the skills
necessary for the job in the time you've got. (:

> FWIW, Alvaro, I don't really have a problem, I'm just trying to
> prevent one before it has a chance to happen :-) I figure that it's
> better to tighten it up the best that I can in the beginning, instead
> of trying to come back to it later. I'm more or less just playing with
> this script right now, anyway.

Preventing problems is a good thing to do, but using the simplest method
to prevent the problem is the least likely to introduce other, shiny and
new problems that you haven't already thought of. Stick with simple:
secure the script written in a language you're already comfortable with
to a single user, have cron run it under that user id, be done with it.

--
When C++ is your hammer, everything looks like a thumb.
-- Steven M. Haflich
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175285 is a reply to message #175274] Wed, 31 August 2011 16:45 Go to previous messageGo to next message
The Natural Philosoph is currently offline  The Natural Philosoph
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jwcarlton wrote:
>>> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
>>> predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
>>> accesses?
>> 1/. Write it in a proper language for this purpose, C, not php
>>
>> 2/. Check the id of the parent process: compare that with running
>> processes . If it ain't cron abort the program.
>>
>> 3/. When you have it working, delete the source code.
>>
>>> I wouldn't mind encoding the page, too, JUST in case I have a root
>>> breach (not expected, of course, but not impossible).
>> That's the second reason to write it in C.
>>
>> Since I would
>>
>>> only need to encode one page, once, would it be reasonable to use the
>>> free trial of Zend Guard? Or would you guys suggest something
>>> different?
>> Why not start with the right approach, instead of patching the wrong
>> approach?
>>
>> I like PHP. But its not the only language in town and this is where I
>> would definitely get out the C compiler
>
> I think you make an excellent point, NP. It's been awhile since I've
> messed with C and have forgotten more than I should, but I think
> you're right that it's the appropriate language.
>
> In retrospect, I don't know if I've EVER coded in C. I think I started
> in C++. Oh, well, it's not a big deal to go find a compiler and see
> what I remember :-) "Hello World", here I come! LOL
>
> FWIW, Alvaro, I don't really have a problem, I'm just trying to
> prevent one before it has a chance to happen :-) I figure that it's
> better to tighten it up the best that I can in the beginning, instead
> of trying to come back to it later. I'm more or less just playing with
> this script right now, anyway.


I've been rediscovering C after a few years absence. And trying to
write, if not understand C++. Which I always considered was just too
smart for its own good, and not really needful for the sort of
programming I wanted to do anyway.


I've still got a segfault to sort out in one cron program..sigh. It is
fine when the remote web server has the data. Its fine if the remote
webserver isn't there at all Or refuses the connection..

But I forgot that sometimes web servers can send data like 'sorry, the
data you want is unavailable at this time'..THAT segfaults it..
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175286 is a reply to message #175281] Wed, 31 August 2011 16:48 Go to previous messageGo to next message
The Natural Philosoph is currently offline  The Natural Philosoph
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Peter H. Coffin wrote:
> On Tue, 30 Aug 2011 19:16:00 -0700 (PDT), jwcarlton wrote:
>>>> I wouldn't mind encoding the page, too, JUST in case I have a root
>>>> breach (not expected, of course, but not impossible). Since I would
>>>> only need to encode one page, once, would it be reasonable to use the
>>>> free trial of Zend Guard? Or would you guys suggest something
>>>> different?
>>> Way, way, way too complicated. Stop thinking "page", start thinking
>>> "script file".
>> I'm not sure that I follow. If a hacker gains root access, I don't
>> want them to be able to go to the cron page and obtain the encryption
>> keys in the page; otherwise, they'll be able to get all of the
>> otherwise nicely secured data.
>>
>> If not Zend Guard, what else do you recommend?
>
> If an attacker gets root access, inside the system, the attacker has the
> encryption keys, no matter where you bury them. Might as well make sure
> that nobody can get them from *outside* the system, which you can
> actually do something about.
>

well yes and no. If they are hard coded in a compiled program, at least
without serious dissassembly they can only be used as that program
intended, not generically.

In the similar way that reading /etc/passwd doesn't actually tell you
want the password was, though it gives you a great chance of a brute
force attack on it succeeding.
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175287 is a reply to message #175282] Wed, 31 August 2011 16:58 Go to previous messageGo to next message
The Natural Philosoph is currently offline  The Natural Philosoph
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Peter H. Coffin wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Aug 2011 02:14:58 -0700 (PDT), jwcarlton wrote:
>>>> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
>>>> predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
>>>> accesses?
>>> 1/. Write it in a proper language for this purpose, C, not php
>
> Won't gain much relevant. Compilation isn't even obfuscation, much less
> encryption. Run strings on a compiled c program sometime.
>
You miss the point completely: you want access to libaries about PIDS
and PPIDS that are not within PHP directly. Sure you can use system ) or
exec() calls, but since you probably need to write what amounts to an
extension anyway why use PHP in the first place?

And only if you are relatively crass would you encode as a string. If
you were worried about security.

There are many algorithms for generating strings and you would need to
examine the machine code and determine which one has been used.

For instance a single character followed buy a sequence of numbers which
have to be added sucessively to generate the lower 7 bits of an ascii
message is very easy to organise.

i.e 'a',1,1,1,1,1,1

becomes abcdefg
strinsg isn't a deal of use there



>>> 2/. Check the id of the parent process: compare that with running
>>> processes . If it ain't cron abort the program.
>
> Marginal. Are you 100% sure, though, that cron will always spawn it
> directly? On my host, it doesn't; cron spawns a process that sets up
> the environment, which then spawns the actual command in the cron job
> and accepts output for mailing back to the owning user, if any, then
> exists itself.
>

recursively trace the PID and the PPID to see what the last level below
init is.

> ----------------
> #!/bin/ksh
>
> echo "this process $$";
> echo "parent process $PPID";
> ----------------
>
> run by cron outputs
>
> ----------------
> this process 20206
> parent process 18169
> ----------------
>
> while cron is pid 547:

Thats cos its a shell script, not a c program,


>
> $ ps aux | grep cron
> ----------------
> USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TT STAT STARTED TIME COMMAND
> ----------------
> root 547 0.0 0.0 632 868 ?? Is 22Jun11 0:13.07 cron
>
>>> 3/. When you have it working, delete the source code.
>
> So you can NEVER MAKE CHANGES AGAIN! (Okay, yes, you can keep a backup
> elsewhere. Which makes it really easy to lose track of.)
>

That is the whole point. Doing things right is not for simple minded
fools who cant count beyond ten without taking their pink booties off.


Have a compile and test environment and a different run time
environment. And keep them separate.



>>>> I wouldn't mind encoding the page, too, JUST in case I have a root
>>>> breach (not expected, of course, but not impossible).
>>> That's the second reason to write it in C.
>>>
>>> Since I would
>>>
>>>> only need to encode one page, once, would it be reasonable to use the
>>>> free trial of Zend Guard? Or would you guys suggest something
>>>> different?
>>> Why not start with the right approach, instead of patching the wrong
>>> approach?
>>>
>>> I like PHP. But its not the only language in town and this is where I
>>> would definitely get out the C compiler
>> I think you make an excellent point, NP. It's been awhile since I've
>> messed with C and have forgotten more than I should, but I think
>> you're right that it's the appropriate language.
>>
>> In retrospect, I don't know if I've EVER coded in C. I think I started
>> in C++. Oh, well, it's not a big deal to go find a compiler and see
>> what I remember :-) "Hello World", here I come! LOL
>
> Best of luck to you. I hope you have the time to build the skills
> necessary for the job in the time you've got. (:
>
>> FWIW, Alvaro, I don't really have a problem, I'm just trying to
>> prevent one before it has a chance to happen :-) I figure that it's
>> better to tighten it up the best that I can in the beginning, instead
>> of trying to come back to it later. I'm more or less just playing with
>> this script right now, anyway.
>
> Preventing problems is a good thing to do, but using the simplest method
> to prevent the problem is the least likely to introduce other, shiny and
> new problems that you haven't already thought of. Stick with simple:
> secure the script written in a language you're already comfortable with
> to a single user, have cron run it under that user id, be done with it.
>

So says the carpenter who repaired the space shuttle with a six inch
nail and a club hammer.
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175289 is a reply to message #175273] Wed, 31 August 2011 18:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Luuk is currently offline  Luuk
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On 31-08-2011 10:20, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> jwcarlton wrote:
>> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
>> predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
>> accesses?
>>
>
> 1/. Write it in a proper language for this purpose, C, not php


The purpose of this script is not give, at least not by the OP.
Can you tell here why PHP would not be the 'proper language'?

PHP can be used form the comman line quit well, see:
http://www.php.net/manual/en/features.commandline.interactive.php
for some examples

There's NO need to learn how to program in C, if one can do this task in PHP

--
Luuk
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175290 is a reply to message #175289] Wed, 31 August 2011 19:49 Go to previous messageGo to next message
The Natural Philosoph is currently offline  The Natural Philosoph
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Luuk wrote:
> On 31-08-2011 10:20, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>> jwcarlton wrote:
>>> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
>>> predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
>>> accesses?
>>>
>> 1/. Write it in a proper language for this purpose, C, not php
>
>
> The purpose of this script is not give, at least not by the OP.
> Can you tell here why PHP would not be the 'proper language'?
>

the main thinking Luuk was that to do what he wanted would invove a lot
of calls to libraries that are not a standard part of PHP but are a part
of the C library


Although I stand corrected because get_ppid() does seem to exist in PHP,
and that's half the battle.


I cant remember the way to programmatically read a process table as ps
does, but I am fairly sure php doesn't have a function to do it.



> PHP can be used form the comman line quit well, see:
> http://www.php.net/manual/en/features.commandline.interactive.php
> for some examples
>
> There's NO need to learn how to program in C, if one can do this task in PHP
>

Well firstly if you can code PHP its not a huge step to C, especially if
you have some crib code.

secondly its a shade more secure if you hide passwords and so on inside
nmunged data.

But my real reason was access to system libaries that dont as a rule
come with PHP.

Libproc.a is the standard way I believe to examine the /proc filesystem
where all this info exists.

In the end its a tradeoff between writing something in PHP to
interrogate that, and using some pre-existent source code in C

I've had similar issues with certain things where PHP did not handle
concurrent accesses to certain graphics libraries well. Very strange
bugs happened. Re wrote it in C and no more problems as I used a
different graphics library that PHP did not support.

I am a great fan of PHP but there are times when I abandon it because -
mainly - I need a library it doesn't support.

And I have not yet tackled the issues of writing my own extensions to it.

And although I know you can, I'd rather use shell or C for cron scripts.
PHP can be used, but for me its strengths lie in its easy merging with
HTML and mySQL: Althouh even there, I have written database interfaces
in C easily enough. C just doesn't do outputting of straight HTML the
way a ?> does ! :-)

I suppose at the end of the day is no big deal to write a massive
printf() statement, but is more tedious than a ?>
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175298 is a reply to message #175274] Thu, 01 September 2011 08:55 Go to previous messageGo to next message
alvaro.NOSPAMTHANX is currently offline  alvaro.NOSPAMTHANX
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El 31/08/2011 11:14, jwcarlton escribió/wrote:
> FWIW, Alvaro, I don't really have a problem, I'm just trying to
> prevent one before it has a chance to happen:-) I figure that it's
> better to tighten it up the best that I can in the beginning, instead
> of trying to come back to it later. I'm more or less just playing with
> this script right now, anyway.

And we sill don't have the faintest clue about that the problem to fix
can be.

It's alright, it's your task and your responsibility so you don't have
to share it with the rest of the world. But please don't ask for advice
in a public forum if you are not willing to disclose any detail.
Questions on the line of «What hammer should I use with a 8x1" screw»
can't get good answers by definition.


--
-- http://alvaro.es - Álvaro G. Vicario - Burgos, Spain
-- Mi sitio sobre programación web: http://borrame.com
-- Mi web de humor satinado: http://www.demogracia.com
--
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175299 is a reply to message #175265] Thu, 01 September 2011 10:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Denis McMahon is currently offline  Denis McMahon
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On Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:23:06 -0700, jwcarlton wrote:

> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a predefined
> cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron accesses?
>
> I wouldn't mind encoding the page, too, JUST in case I have a root
> breach (not expected, of course, but not impossible). Since I would only
> need to encode one page, once, would it be reasonable to use the free
> trial of Zend Guard? Or would you guys suggest something different?

You can't prevent non cron access, because root can do anything.

You could create a special user account that was prevented from
interactive login, make your script only readable by this user, and
execute the cron job as this user.

That's probably the best you can do unless you also encrypt the hard
drives.

First of all, you need to assess how much security you actually want /
need. If you really want your data to be secure, then you need to put the
computer in a faraday caged vault with no external data lines and
filtered power supplies.

Then you only need to worry about the integrity of the people who have
access to the vault.

Rgds

Denis McMahon
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175301 is a reply to message #175290] Thu, 01 September 2011 17:11 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Luuk is currently offline  Luuk
Messages: 329
Registered: September 2010
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On 31-08-2011 21:49, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> Luuk wrote:
>> On 31-08-2011 10:20, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>> jwcarlton wrote:
>>>> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
>>>> predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
>>>> accesses?
>>>>
>>> 1/. Write it in a proper language for this purpose, C, not php
>>
>>
>> The purpose of this script is not give, at least not by the OP.
>> Can you tell here why PHP would not be the 'proper language'?
>>
>
> the main thinking Luuk was that to do what he wanted would invove a lot
> of calls to libraries that are not a standard part of PHP but are a part
> of the C library
>


i dont see this part:
"to do what he wanted would invove a lot of calls to libraries"

but it can be caused by my lack of understanding English.... ;)

--
Luuk
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175302 is a reply to message #175301] Thu, 01 September 2011 19:25 Go to previous messageGo to next message
The Natural Philosoph is currently offline  The Natural Philosoph
Messages: 993
Registered: September 2010
Karma: 0
Senior Member
Luuk wrote:
> On 31-08-2011 21:49, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>> Luuk wrote:
>>> On 31-08-2011 10:20, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>> jwcarlton wrote:
>>>> > I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
>>>> > predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
>>>> > accesses?
>>>> >
>>>> 1/. Write it in a proper language for this purpose, C, not php
>>>
>>> The purpose of this script is not give, at least not by the OP.
>>> Can you tell here why PHP would not be the 'proper language'?
>>>
>> the main thinking Luuk was that to do what he wanted would invove a lot
>> of calls to libraries that are not a standard part of PHP but are a part
>> of the C library
>>
>
>
> i dont see this part:
> "to do what he wanted would invove a lot of calls to libraries"
>
> but it can be caused by my lack of understanding English.... ;)
>
Or ..programming languages...and computer software architecture..
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175303 is a reply to message #175302] Thu, 01 September 2011 19:45 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Luuk is currently offline  Luuk
Messages: 329
Registered: September 2010
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On 01-09-2011 21:25, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> Luuk wrote:
>> On 31-08-2011 21:49, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>> Luuk wrote:
>>>> On 31-08-2011 10:20, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>> > jwcarlton wrote:
>>>> >> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
>>>> >> predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
>>>> >> accesses?
>>>> >>
>>>> > 1/. Write it in a proper language for this purpose, C, not php
>>>>
>>>> The purpose of this script is not give, at least not by the OP.
>>>> Can you tell here why PHP would not be the 'proper language'?
>>>>
>>> the main thinking Luuk was that to do what he wanted would invove a lot
>>> of calls to libraries that are not a standard part of PHP but are a part
>>> of the C library
>>>
>>
>>
>> i dont see this part:
>> "to do what he wanted would invove a lot of calls to libraries"
>>
>> but it can be caused by my lack of understanding English.... ;)
>>
> Or ..programming languages...and computer software architecture..
>

sorry,
i still dont get what the OP's question has to do with 'a loc of calls
to libraries'

I know enough about programming languages and/or computer software
architecture ..... (enough=enough)

--
Luuk
Re: PHP script to only be accessed by cron [message #175305 is a reply to message #175303] Thu, 01 September 2011 23:30 Go to previous message
The Natural Philosoph is currently offline  The Natural Philosoph
Messages: 993
Registered: September 2010
Karma: 0
Senior Member
Luuk wrote:
> On 01-09-2011 21:25, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>> Luuk wrote:
>>> On 31-08-2011 21:49, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>> Luuk wrote:
>>>> > On 31-08-2011 10:20, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>>>> >> jwcarlton wrote:
>>>> >>> I'm writing a PHP script that I want to ONLY be accessed by a
>>>> >>> predefined cron. Can you guys suggest a way to prevent non-cron
>>>> >>> accesses?
>>>> >>>
>>>> >> 1/. Write it in a proper language for this purpose, C, not php
>>>> > The purpose of this script is not give, at least not by the OP.
>>>> > Can you tell here why PHP would not be the 'proper language'?
>>>> >
>>>> the main thinking Luuk was that to do what he wanted would invove a lot
>>>> of calls to libraries that are not a standard part of PHP but are a part
>>>> of the C library
>>>>
>>>
>>> i dont see this part:
>>> "to do what he wanted would invove a lot of calls to libraries"
>>>
>>> but it can be caused by my lack of understanding English.... ;)
>>>
>> Or ..programming languages...and computer software architecture..
>>
>
> sorry,
> i still dont get what the OP's question has to do with 'a loc of calls
> to libraries'
>
> I know enough about programming languages and/or computer software
> architecture ..... (enough=enough)
>
The solution involves accessing the process list.

There are less tools in PHP libraries than in C ones.
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