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The Linux Security Circus: On GUI isolation

Submitted by srlinuxx on Sunday 24th of April 2011 01:50:18 AM Filed under
Linux

There certainly is one thing that most Linux users don't realize about their Linux systems... this is the lack of GUI-level isolation, and how it essentially nullifies all the desktop security.

So, let me stress this one more time: if you have two GUI applications, e.g. an OpenOffice Word Processor, and a stupid Tetris game, both of which granted access to your screen (your X server), then there is no isolation between those two apps. Even if they run as different user accounts! Even if they are somehow sandboxed by SELinux or whatever! None, zero, null, nil!

The X server architecture, designed long time ago by some happy hippies who just thought all the people apps are good and non-malicious, simply allows any GUI application to control any other one.

rest here


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