Re: How to get Apache to write files as group writable?

[Jay Paulson <jpaulson sedl org>]

> > I also found that in the /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf file you can 
> > change the group apache runs as from apache to www (or whatever group 
> > you want).  Then start up /etc/init.d/httpd as root for it to take 
> > effect (at least that what it says in the httpd.conf file).
> > My question now is which is the better way?
> > I'll have to try both ways. :)
>
> The two things are completely different.
>
> Changing the group in /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf just changes group 
> that apache runs as. It will not affect the permission bits of files 
> created by the web server in any way, only the GID of those files (if 
> you're using the SGID bit on a directory, the GID of newly-created 
> files will be the same as the directory, otherwise, the GID of the 
> running process).
>
> Be careful about the UID/GID you run httpd as, and the 
> UID/GID/permissions of the files on your system. Security-wise, the 
> httpd should run with just enough permissions to be able to function 
> correctly, i.e. it should not be able to write to most files, just 
> read the files it's serving and write to files/directories that you 
> want to be able to upload to.
>
> Changing the umask to 002 will mean that newly-created files will have 
> write permissions set for the UID and GID of the file.
>
> Paul.

Thanks for the explanation it makes perfect sense to me and the 
security issue you bring up is very serious.

The reason why I need apache to have write permissions set for the UID 
and the GID is that I have other users who log in locally and will need 
access to modify those files that are uploaded via apache.  Hence the 
reason why my local users and apache are all in the 'www' group.  This, 
as you pointed out, isn't best for security, which really does concern 
me.

Is there a more secure way of setting this up so that files that are 
created by apache are writable by the group and the local users without 
compromising the security of the rest of the files on the web root 
through apache?

Thanks,
jay