Cygwin services using uid 400, not SYSTEM. Why?

[Shaddy Baddah]

Hi,

Larry Hall (Cygwin) wrote:
> Why didn't you configure the service via /usr/bin/iu-config?  I'd suggest
> you uninstall, reinstall, and try using the configure script instead.  With
> some luck, it will be able to undo any missteps and configure a working and
> proper inetd for you.

Larry, I am genuinely curious as to why you think that this script
configures the service. I actually tried this at first, but it seemed to
do nothing other than configure files in /etc. A quick look at the
script seemed to suggest that it does not do what in my opinion is a
full configuration, i.e. registering an inetd service. The step I used
comes from /usr/share/doc/Cygwin/inetutils-1.3.2.README, and seems to be
the standard way to register a Cygwin service.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to resolve this problem since
reporting it, and am now experiencing it on a completely new system (a
cygcheck.out for it is attached). This system has Windows XP Pro
pre-installed, and has not been attached to the same domain. It has
however been on the same LAN (I provide this on the long shot that a
DHCP or other server on the network could make some configurations to
restrict SYSTEM account).

Shaddy Baddah wrote:
       > The SYSTEM uid from my /etc/passwd (created by mkpasswd -l -d)
is 18:
       >
       > SYSTEM:*:18:544:,S-1-5-18::
       >
       > Uid 400 doesn't exist. Can someone please explain to me why the
service
       > is not being started as SYSTEM? Is this normal? What more can I
do to
       > diagnose the problem (other than sending the cygcheck.out, which I
have
       > attached)?

I understand now why ps is displaying a UID of 400. From
http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/ntsec.html:

Special values of user and group ids

If the current user is not present in /etc/passwd, that user's user id
is set to a special value of 400.

However, someone needs to explain to me why I am experiencing this
condition, as:
1) Windows Task Manager lists inetd.exe as being run under User Name SYSTEM.
2) As mentioned in the original email, SYSTEM is listed in /etc/passwd,
in the standard way.
3) I have a strong recollection of seeing inetd listed under UID SYSTEM
on my previous desktop system, so I am sure the listing in this way is
wrong.

I ask about the listing as, as you might have guessed, I seem to be
having privilege problems with any Cygwin services I try to install. I
suspect that either SYSTEM's privileges have been cut-back (but looking
at my policies, they suggested that SYSTEM had the set of privileges
that it normally does, and it doesn't explain the UID 400), or the
SYSTEM account is handled differently in Windows XP, for whatever reason.

Here is a break-down of the bizarre behaviour I am experiencing:
1. After installing the service, and starting it, the inetd (and its'
wrapping cygrunsrv) processes was listed with ps as having UID 400.
2. I could connect to all inetd services (chargen, echo and pertinently,
telnet).
3. Although I could establish a telnet connection, I could not
authenticated/login against my local user account name and password
(rejected at password).
4. After editing /etc/inetd.conf to include the uw-imapd service, and
sending a HUP signal to the inetd process to re-read, I could no longer
make any connections.
5. No amount of service re-starts could restore the functionality. This
continues now.
6. If I run inetd out of my local user account (/usr/sbin/inetd -d &), I
        am able to connect to all services.
7. I am also able to connect to the telnet service, and prompted only
for a password, I am able to login under my local user account.

I'm at my wits end. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA,
Shaddy









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