Linux Administration: A Beginner's Guide, Eighth Edition, 8th Edition

CHAPTER
15	Local Security

We frequently hear about newly discovered attacks (or vulnerabilities) against various operating systems. A sometimes overlooked detail in discussions about these new attacks is the exploit vector. Exploit vectors can be of two types: those in which the vulnerability is exploitable over a network and those in which the vulnerability is exploitable locally. Local security and network security considerations require two different approaches. In this chapter, we focus on security from a local security perspective.

Local security addresses the problem of attacks that require the attacker to be able to do something on the system itself for the purpose of gaining elevated privileges.

Systems that lack proper local ...