Allow user or group to run sudo on specific applications in Linux

Allow user or group to run sudo on specific applications in Linux

In some situation, we may want to delegate a sudo capability to Linux users or groups without completely giving them full access to the operating system. We can achieve this by using User_Alias inside the /etc/sudoers configuration file. I will share the simple settings that I used in my RHEL server. ## Sudoers allows particular users to run various commands as ## the root user, without needing the root password. ## ## Examples are provided at the bottom of the file for collections ## of related commands, which can then be delegated out to particular ## users or groups. ## ## This file must be edited with the 'visudo' command. ## Host Aliases ## Groups of machines. You may prefer to use hostnames (perhaps using ## wildcards for entire domains) or IP addresses instead. # Host_Alias FILESERVERS = fs1, fs2 # Host_Alias MAILSERVERS = smtp, smtp2 ## User Aliases ## These aren't often necessary, as you can use regular groups ## (ie, from files, LDAP, NIS, etc) in this file - just use %groupname ## rather than USERALIAS # User_Alias ADMINS = jsmith, mikem User_Alias POWERUSERS = piotr.pawlowski, martin.marshall POWERUSERS ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /sbin/reboot ## Command Aliases ## These are groups of related commands... ## Networking # Cmnd_Alias NETWORKING = /sbin/route, /sbin/ifconfig, /bin/ping, /sbin/dhclient, /usr/bin/net, /sbin/iptables, /usr/bin/rfcomm, /usr/bin/wvdial, /sbin/iwconfig, /sbin/mii-tool ## Installation and management of software # Cmnd_Alias SOFTWARE = /bin/rpm, /usr/bin/up2date, /usr/bin/yum ## Services # Cmnd_Alias SERVICES = /sbin/service, /sbin/chkconfig, /usr/bin/systemctl start, /usr/bin/systemctl stop, /usr/bin/systemctl reload, /usr/bin/systemctl restart, /usr/bin/systemctl status, /usr/bin/systemctl enable, /usr/bin/systemctl disable ## Updating the locate database # Cmnd_Alias LOCATE = /usr/bin/updatedb ## Storage # Cmnd_Alias STORAGE = /sbin/fdisk, /sbin/sfdisk, /sbin/parted, /sbin/partprobe, /bin/mount, /bin/umount ## Delegating permissions # Cmnd_Alias DELEGATING = /usr/sbin/visudo, /bin/chown, /bin/chmod, /bin/chgrp ## Processes # Cmnd_Alias PROCESSES = /bin/nice, /bin/kill, /usr/bin/kill, /usr/bin/killall ## Drivers # Cmnd_Alias DRIVERS = /sbin/modprobe # Defaults specification # # Refuse to run if unable to disable echo on the tty. # Defaults !visiblepw # # Preserving HOME has security implications since many programs # use it when searching for configuration files. Note that HOME # is already set when the the env_reset option is enabled, so # this option is only effective for configurations where either # env_reset is disabled or HOME is present in the env_keep list. # Defaults always_set_home Defaults match_group_by_gid # Prior to version 1.8.15, groups listed in sudoers that were not # found in the system group database were passed to the group # plugin, if any. Starting with 1.8.15, only groups of the form # %:group are resolved via the group plugin by default. # We enable always_query_group_plugin to restore old behavior. # Disable this option for new behavior. Defaults always_query_group_plugin Defaults env_reset Defaults env_keep = "COLORS DISPLAY HOSTNAME HISTSIZE KDEDIR LS_COLORS" Defaults env_keep += "MAIL PS1 PS2 QTDIR USERNAME LANG LC_ADDRESS LC_CTYPE" Defaults env_keep += "LC_COLLATE LC_IDENTIFICATION LC_MEASUREMENT LC_MESSAGES" Defaults env_keep += "LC_MONETARY LC_NAME LC_NUMERIC LC_PAPER LC_TELEPHONE" Defaults env_keep += "LC_TIME LC_ALL LANGUAGE LINGUAS _XKB_CHARSET XAUTHORITY" # # Adding HOME to env_keep may enable a user to run unrestricted # commands via sudo. # # Defaults env_keep += "HOME" Defaults secure_path = /sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin ## Next comes the main part: which users can run what software on ## which machines (the sudoers file can be shared between multiple ## systems). ## Syntax: ## ## user MACHINE=COMMANDS ## ## The COMMANDS section may have other options added to it. ## ## Allow root to run any commands anywhere root ALL=(ALL) ALL ## Allows members of the 'sys' group to run networking, software, ## service management apps and more. # %sys ALL = NETWORKING, SOFTWARE, SERVICES, STORAGE, DELEGATING, PROCESSES, LOCATE, DRIVERS ## Allows people in group wheel to run all commands %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL ## Same thing without a password # %wheel ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL ## Allows members of the users group to mount and unmount the ## cdrom as root # %users ALL=/sbin/mount /mnt/cdrom, /sbin/umount /mnt/cdrom ## Allows members of the users group to shutdown this system # %users localhost=/sbin/shutdown -h now %psi ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /bin/systemctl start db-replication.service %psi ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /bin/systemctl stop db-replication.service %psi ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /bin/systemctl restart db-replication.service %psi ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /bin/systemctl status db-replication.service ## Read drop-in files from /etc/sudoers.d (the # here does not mean a comment) #includedir /etc/sudoers.d The configuration before handles the individual User_Alias. It assigns users under the alias name POWERUSERS and we let those user reboot the system without asking for password. ...

May 2, 2021 ยท John Pili