[svn.haxx.se] · SVN Dev · SVN Users · SVN Org · TSVN Dev · TSVN Users · Subclipse Dev · Subclipse Users · this month's index

Re: Security features, path based authorization in subversion

From: vinay i <vinay.indresh_at_gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:09:30 +0530

Thank you all for the responses. David I shall try the LDAP method. I will
intimate all if it works for me.

Vinay

On Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 11:05 PM, David Weintraub <qazwart_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> I am not too sure how you're doing things now, so let's go over the
> four different repository access methods:
>
> file://
> We all agree that you want to avoid this method.
>
> svn://
> This uses the "svnserve" process. In this case, the "svnserve" process
> can run as its own user and have completely private access to its
> repository. No user can access the repository except through "svn://".
> The disadvantage with this method is that you must use a separate
> authentication file. This file can be setup to be only readable by the
> svnserve process, but you're stuck maintaining it.
>
> svn+ssh://
> The advantage of this system is that it can use the OS's
> authentication system. The disadvantage is that it works by creating a
> separate svnserve process for each user. Any user who has access to
> the repository via svn+ssh:// also has access (if they can log into
> the box) with file:/// access too. There are all sorts of tricks to
> keep users out of a shell when setting up ssh, but if your users need
> shell access to that box, you're out of luck.
>
> http://
> Like svn://, this allows the repository to be owned by the same user
> which is running the httpd daemon process. Usually, you use Apache's
> authentication method to setup users which is the same drawback of
> svn://. However, you can use LDAP as your verification system, so the
> passwords and user names are on your LDAP server.
>
> We have such a system setup at our place. The LDAP server is our
> Windows server. If you are under a particular LDAP group, you have
> read access to our Subversion repository. If you are using Unix or
> Linux, you can setup an LDAP server that interacts with your
> /etc/passwd file (or your NIS database). This can be done either by
> having the /etc/passwd file generated from your LDAP server, or by
> having your LDAP server read in entries from your /etc/passwd file.
>
> I think what you may want to do is setup an Apache httpd daemon, and
> use LDAP as your authentication system. Of course, that will involve
> some major system administration which might be beyond your realm, but
> if your users have shell access to the same box that has your
> Subversion repository server, you can't use svn+ssh. And, your only
> other choice would be using svn://, and having to maintain a separate
> authentication system where you setup the passwords and accounts.
>
> --
> David Weintraub
> qazwart_at_gmail.com
>
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 5:55 AM, vinay i <vinay.indresh_at_gmail.com> wrote:
> > Thanks David.
> > But my concern is when I use svnserve as a user and set permissions on
> the
> > repository, to authenticate other users I will have to store users and
> > corresponding passwords. This is a security concern. Can't we have a
> method
> > where we don't have to store passwords?
> >
> > Vinay
> >
> > On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 9:17 PM, David Weintraub <qazwart_at_gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> n Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 3:30 AM, vinay i <vinay.indresh_at_gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> > Hi
> >> > I tired using svnserve and apache for security features and path based
> >> > authorization. But when a user has access to the server (login to the
> >> > server) all these authorization fails. He can access any path within
> the
> >> > repository by file:/// access.
> >>
> >> Create a NEW user called "svnserve". Create a new group for this user
> >> and call it "svnserve" too. Then, change all the files in the
> >> repository to be owned by this user and this user's group with a
> >> permission of "rw-r--r--" or even better "rw-r-----". Set this
> >> svnserve's umask to "066". Then run your Subversion server as this
> >> user. This way, developers can't read and write to the repository
> >> using the "file:///" access.
> >>
> >> The only reason you should be using "file:///" access is if you have a
> >> private repository, and you don't want to run the server. As soon as
> >> more than one person needs access the repository, you should setup a
> >> special subversion server user and give that user exclusive read and
> >> write access on the repository.
> >>
> >> --
> >> David Weintraub
> >> qazwart_at_gmail.com
> >
> >
> >
>
Received on 2008-08-26 15:39:59 CEST

This is an archived mail posted to the Subversion Users mailing list.

This site is subject to the Apache Privacy Policy and the Apache Public Forum Archive Policy.