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Why is it that the default setting makes it possible for user A to look in the home of user B and vice versa?

And furthermore... That user can not only look into the home of another user, he can also open any document he wants to.

It feels very insecure to me. There should be more privacy for users. I know how to prevent this situation, but it puzzles me why this should be possible in the first place.

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4 Answers 4

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@Digiplace, I agree that it is pretty silly that any user can see your personal files, regardless of the history of UNIX, there are ways to keep your files private however by using enryption

Encrypting home directories allows you to keep your files private. Without the proper authentication, unauthorized users will not be allowed view or access the content stored in your home folder.

To get started, go to Applications –> Ubuntu Software Center.

Then search for and install ‘ecryptfs-utils’

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After installing, ‘Encrypt home folder’ option should be enabled when creating new users.

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If a user account is already created, and it’s not encrypted, go to Applications –> Accessories –> Terminal and run the command to encrypt an existing account.

sudo ecryptfs-migrate-home -u USERNAME

Replace USERNAME with the username of the account.

After encrypting an existing user directory, allow the user to login immediately before restarting the computer.

When the user logs in, he/she must click ‘Run this action now’ to create a passphrase (password) when prompted below.

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When everything works ok, go to the /home folder and delete the temporary folder created for the user. If everything didn’t work, then restore the user’s home directory. But remember, a user must be logged out before you can encrypt his/her home folder.

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  • Worth to note, it is not the encryption that prevent the others from seeing your files, but the default read and execute permissions used by the system when you use encryption. When both users are logged in (and so crypt-mounts in effect), with appropriate permissions each can see the files of the other.
    – enzotib
    Nov 25, 2011 at 11:37
  • Thx but as I wrote, I know how to fix this thing. I just want to know WHY Ubuntu has chosen to use this default setting. I mean...even Windows does this better!
    – Digiplace
    Nov 25, 2011 at 11:40
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As said Ubuntu by default leaves the home from each user open for others to peak inside, its a way of facilitating access and file sharing between user accounts.

Of course each directory / file can have it's permissions changed by the user so that the files become more private. For that you can use the command chmod, read the manual pages by typing man chmod in a terminal

Also, if privacy is an issue you can during installation or a new user creation, select to encrypt the user's home. That will make the home directory of that user inaccessible to other users even if the user is currently logged in to the system (default behaviour).

You can still encrypt your home folder if you did not. For that you need the ecryptfs-utils package installed

sudo apt-get install ecryptfs-utils

Log out and log in with the guest user account (or create a temporary account for the effect), open a terminal and type:

sudo ecryptfs-migrate-home -u <username>

Where <username> is the username of the user you want to encrypt the home folder.

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Other user cannot modify or delete your files, nor they can execute your scripts with your credentials, so it is not insecure.

Traditionally, UNIX has given the users the privilege to read almost everything in the system. Of course, as you know, if you feel you have confidential information to hide from other, you can.

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    Unix was created and used for anything but the desktop. So I don't feel satisfied with this answer. Ubuntu wants to grow as a mainstream desktop environment. And they should. But I don't think that this specific Unix tradition comes to terms with the expectations and needs! of desktop users.
    – Digiplace
    Nov 25, 2011 at 10:32
  • @Digiplace: Desktop are mainly used at home, in the family, where users want to share, not isolate one from the other, and at work where generally there is only one user per machine.
    – enzotib
    Nov 25, 2011 at 10:42
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    Well, I'm not a narrow minded person, mind you ;-) but I don't want my kids in my documents map on a multi user desktop.
    – Digiplace
    Nov 25, 2011 at 10:46
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    You may not be satisfied with the situation, but this is the answer - Ubuntu does it this way because Linux in general does it this way because UNIX has always done it this way. Ubuntu could choose to do it another way, but UNIX has always given you the means to control your own access permissions, so where's the advantage?
    – ams
    Nov 25, 2011 at 14:21
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    BTW, if you're really worried about keeping your documents away from you kids you should encrypt them and set the permissions to "user only" - it's only a matter of time before one of the kids discovers that booting in recovery mode gives full root access with no password required!
    – ams
    Nov 25, 2011 at 14:24
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To solve this do one thing change the permissions of your home directory /files to X00 where 00will make them inaccessible to others in your group and to any other user

chmod 0X00 home directory/file_name
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