System Administration Guide: Security Services

ProcedureHow to Restrict Access to KDC Servers

Both master KDC servers and slave KDC servers have copies of the KDC database stored locally. Restricting access to these servers so that the databases are secure is important to the overall security of the Kerberos installation.

  1. Disable remote services, as needed.

    To provide a secure KDC server, all nonessential network services should be disabled . Depending on your configuration, some of these services may already be disabled. Check the service status with the svcs command. In most circumstances, the only services that would need to run would be krb5kdc and kadmin if the KDC is a master. In addition, any services that use loopback tli (ticlts, ticotsord, and ticots) can be left enabled.

    # svcadm disable network/comsat
    # svcadm disable network/dtspc/tcp
    # svcadm disable network/finger
    # svcadm disable network/login:rlogin
    # svcadm disable network/rexec
    # svcadm disable network/shell
    # svcadm disable network/talk
    # svcadm disable network/tname
    # svcadm disable network/uucp
    # svcadm disable network/rpc_100068_2-5/rpc_udp
  2. Restrict access to the hardware that supports the KDC.

    To restrict physical access, make sure that the KDC server and its monitor are located in a secure facility. Users should not be able to access this server in any way.

  3. Store KDC database backups on local disks or on the KDC slaves.

    Make tape backups of your KDC only if the tapes are stored securely. Follow the same practice for copies of keytab files. It would be best to store these files on a local file system that is not shared with other systems. The storage file system can be on either the master KDC server or any of the slave KDCs.