[lug] finger

[Holshouser, David]

finger is software as well as a daemon.

if you:
localhost$ finger me at localhost
I believe you are using the software to connect to the daemon at localhost.
if this daemon has been deactivated, then, "Connection refused"

however, if you:
localhost$ finger me
then the software will do all of the work locally (ie. check the /etc/passwd
and ~me/.plan files).



> > Originally, I "just" wanted to confirm a username on a remote
> > machine.  How do I do that, please?

as for testing usernames, this is one of the reasons finger gets turned off.
while(1)
	foo=randname()
	if(finger foo at victimhost != ERROR)
		rootkit(foo, victimhost)
end






> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Hernandez [mailto:John.Hernandez at noaa.gov]
> Sent: Friday, July 13, 2001 1:06 PM
> To: lug at lug.boulder.co.us
> Subject: Re: [lug] finger
> 
> 
> David wrote:
> > 
> > I tried to use finger and it did not work, I could not even finger
> > myself: (I do not have a ~/.nofinger file)
> > 
> 
> You might want to consider some physical therapy. :)
> 
> > Blackhand dajo ~ finger dajo at localhost
> > [localhost]
> > finger: connect: Connection refused
> > Blackhand dajo ~
> > 
> > I guess that finger is a security problem and is disabled for that
> > reason.  But I thought a posting would be worthwhile: why 
> does finger
> > not work, how do I make it work, etc.
> > 
> > Originally, I "just" wanted to confirm a username on a remote
> > machine.  How do I do that, please?
> > 
> 
> In all seriousness, if you enable finger, do yourself a favor 
> and tcpwrap the service to allow only your workstation to 
> access the finger server.
> 
> Uncomment fingerd in /etc/inetd.conf (or edit 
> /etc/xinetd.d/finger and set disable=no) and restart (kill 
> -HUP) inetd.  Add an ACL entry to /etc/hosts.allow to limit 
> access, and test it.
> 
> > dajo
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
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> 
> -- 
> 
>   - John Hernandez - Network Engineer - 303-497-6392 -
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