Re: [Ayatana] Possible security risk with update-manager

[mac_v <drkvi-a@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 2009-12-14 at 13:05 +0000, Matthew Paul Thomas wrote:

> As I wrote in <http://launchpad.net/bugs/370248>: "For several years Web
> browsers have insisted on showing the address bar, or the status bar, or
> both, in any popup window as a way of distinguishing it from native
> application windows. Can you provide a demo which avoids this security
> measure?"
> 
> In both Firefox and Chromium, the demo you have pointed to has not just
> the browser's address bar *and* status bar, but also two title bars
> rather than one. If you can provide a more convincing demo, please
> attach it to the bug report.

If we had a bigger market share , i guess , we'd have a better demo by
now  ;)

But  , the real problem here is the admin password being asked for a
simple update. 

Why ask the admin password?
- Update manager is designed to be shown only for admin accounts and
doesnt show up for non-admins.
- Admin User has already approved software source and accepted it as a
trusted source when they add the repo sources to the list.

Why this extra step for a simple update process? 

Removing the prompt would completely eliminate this security issue and
make updates even simpler. All the user has to do is click 'Install
update' and everything is done.
[Bonus : For people who dont like the gksu prompt behavior , we are
getting rid of it ;) ]

Even while installing new apps , from the Software Center , we can just
install from the trusted repo. No need policykit password prompts from
admin users. [not sure how SC works for non-admins right now.]


-- 
Cheers,
mac_v