Running shell scripts with sudo through my Rails app

Posted by nfm on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by nfm
Published on 2010-06-08T06:09:50Z Indexed on 2010/06/08 6:32 UTC
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Filed under:

ruby-on-rails

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security

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shell-scripting

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privileges

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sudo

In my Rails app, I have some functionality that interfaces with the server's OS. I've written a bash script, put it in my lib/ subdirectory, and can run it from my controller.

However, some functionality of the script requires superuser privileges.

What is the most sane way to run this script securely? It is being passed arguments from a web form, but should only be able to be called by authenticated (and trusted) users.

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