[Opensim-users] Grid Security

Justin Clark-Casey jjustincc at googlemail.com
Tue Oct 9 01:17:13 UTC 2012


Prim limits should be respected when set in Regions.ini.  If not, then that's a reportable bug.

You can also set prim limits per parcel in the viewer which is a different mechanism.

On 08/10/12 13:15, James Stallings II wrote:
> To summarize:
>
> - No SQL server needs to be accessible over the network except in the event of a 'special case' (e.g., an
> externally-hosted web front end).
> - No other ports but 8002 in a standard or default ROBUST configuration need be accessible to the viewer-based end user.
> - The keys were removed by consensus because they provided *no* security.
>
> Joshua:
> Use the similar settings in the OpenSim.ini file, the one's in the Region.ini file should be removed.
>
>
> Cheers
> James/Hiro
> http://SimHost.com
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 8, 2012 at 3:01 AM, Joshua Rubeck <jrubeck1989 at gmail.com <mailto:jrubeck1989 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     Thanks for the info guys, that was very helpful. One of the other things we were having issues with is the MaxPrims
>     setting in the region INI files. Clearly this setting is available, however it does not appear to work. I am sure on
>     my grids this is not an issue after all OpenSimulator is usually used to eliminate many of the restrictions SL has.
>     However for us we are trying to follow the same style of region and prims counts as SL for the sole reason that it
>     appears to be more cost effective in terms of resources. I mean we can have more regions on Server A if each region
>     is limited to 15k prim, where as Server B can only host a few safely without thos limitations. Any idea how to make
>     sure the software enforces the max prim limitations?
>
>
>     On Sun, Oct 7, 2012 at 10:12 PM, Tom Haines <hainest at gmail.com <mailto:hainest at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>         Blocking port 8003 on the firewall to block unauthorized regions doesn't work if you have an external
>         organization that hosts a region server that connects to your grid and has OpenSim users both NATing to the same
>         IP address. And situations like this tend to pop up for political, and not technical reasons, which means there
>         is little recourse for the grid operator.
>
>         I've considered SSH tunneling for the 8003 connection, but have not had a chance to experiment.
>
>         And to confirm, there is no communication directly between viewer and SQL server. The database will, and should
>         be run unexposed to the end user.
>
>
>         On Sunday, October 7, 2012, wrote:
>
>             Further to this i understand there should be no reason for a normal viewer
>             to talk directly to the SQL server. It is all done via the simulator.
>
>             As such it would be feasible to set your SQL server to only allow your
>             OpenSim users to authenticate from servers you run (usually by IP or
>             FQDN). There should always be a focus on security but I would imagine all
>             these factors would make it at least very difficult for someone to
>             casually connect a simulator to your grid even without additional
>             authentication in OpenSim.
>
>
>
>              > unless there have been profound recent changes in the OS services
>              > connectors structure that i've failed to notice (which is QUITE
>              > possible), all end-user accessibility is handled by port 8002 and the
>              > rest (connection services) is governed by port 8003 (in a standard
>              > ROBUST based grid setup).  therefore, placing :8003 behind your firewall
>              > (thus preventing 'unauthorized' outside users from attaching to your
>              > grid services) should not interfere with public/open access via viewers
>              > on :8002 which would remain outside the firewall.  afaik, this is the
>              > only reliable and in my experience completely effective solution to the
>              > problem.
>              >
>              > i also believe the security key function was removed by concensus as it
>              > didn't provide any hardcore security.
>              >
>              > hope this helps and is remotely correct in it's technical assumptions -
>              > or at least follows the path your concerns and argument were headed...
>              >
>              > - core
>              >
>              > On 10/7/2012 11:50 AM, Tom Haines wrote:
>              >> I disagree that this should not be considered a concern. Under this
>              >> security model, anyone with the information to connect to the grid as
>              >> a user has enough information to connect a region to the grid.
>              >>
>              >> I am concerned with this as an operator of an educational grid. We
>              >> offer our services to students and educators with the understanding
>              >> that we can limit the objectionable content they would be exposed to
>              >> in SL or other public OpenSim grids. Obviously if anyone can connect
>              >> their own regions without authorization from the grid operators, our
>              >> ability to offer this service is compromised.
>              >>
>              >> I know there were pass keys used in the past to authenticate regions,
>              >> but I believe this functionality has been removed. I haven't seen
>              >> anything on the website regarding this. I've read before that
>              >> firewalls are the best defense, but this is untenable, since our usage
>              >> requirements demand controlled access by region operators, but open
>              >> access to end users from heterogeneous network environments.
>              >>
>              >> Could someone weigh in with the official line on this?
>              >>
>              >> On Sunday, October 7, 2012, Fleep Tuque wrote:
>              >>
>              >>     Hi Josh,
>              >>
>              >>     As far as I know, in order to connect a region to your grid,
>              >>     someone would need to know all the connection details and unless
>              >>     you provide that information, I'm not sure how anyone would know
>              >>     how to or be able to connect to your grid.  FleepGrid has been
>              >>     running for nearly 2 years and I've never seen any attempts to
>              >>     connect a rogue region as far as I know, so I'm not sure it's much
>              >>     of a concern.
>              >>
>              >>     I'll let someone with more knowledge of the possible configuration
>              >>     options address any .ini settings that you might be able to use to
>              >>     disable region connections, but if this is a security issue or
>              >>     problem, it's the first I've heard of it.
>              >>
>              >>     Sincerely,
>              >>
>              >>     - Chris/Fleep
>              >>
>              >>     Chris M. Collins (SL/OS: Fleep Tuque)
>              >>     Center for Simulations & Virtual Environments Research (UCSIM)
>              >>     UCIT Instructional & Research Computing
>              >>     University of Cincinnati
>              >>     406A Zimmer Hall
>              >>     315 College Drive
>              >>     PO BOX 210088
>              >>     Cincinnati, OH 45221-0088
>              >> chris.collins at uc.edu <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml',
>              >>     'chris.collins at uc.edu');>
>              >> (513) 556-3018 <tel:%28513%29%20556-3018>
>              >>
>              >> http://ucsim.uc.edu
>              >>
>              >>     On Sun, Oct 7, 2012 at 9:52 AM, Joshua Rubeck
>              >>     <jrubeck1989 at gmail.com <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml',
>              >>     'jrubeck1989 at gmail.com');>> wrote:
>              >>
>              >>         Okay so here is a question for everyone. Myself and a few
>              >>         others are setting up a grid for public use, but we do not
>              >>         want other people to be able to connect their regions on a
>              >>         home based computer to our grid. One of my friends remembers
>              >>         that there used to be a setting that would prevent an
>              >>         opensimulator instance from connectiong to robust without
>              >>         authentication but I cannot find that in the configuration
>              >>         files. Is there a configuration that allows us to run a public
>              >>         grid without other people being able to connect their regions
>              >>         to our gird.
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>              >>
>              >>
>              >>
>              >>
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-- 
Justin Clark-Casey (justincc)
OSVW Consulting
http://justincc.org
http://twitter.com/justincc



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