Changes in sudo (upstream)

kapqa · 2026-09-13 10:01:33

This was today in the "news"

sudo (1.9.17p2-7) unstable; urgency=medium
Starting with sudo 1.9.17p2-6, the default /etc/sudoers was aligned with
the example file that upstream ships. This was done to reduce the
differences between Debian and other distributions.
This has removed /usr/local/sbin and /usr/local/bin from the
"Defaults secure_path" setting. This may break some local scripts, but
also increases security, since on some systems, /usr/local might be
writable for non-root users and thus executing programs from there might
introduce privilege escalation.
If you want to use executables from /usr/local with sudo without giving
the explicit path, consider changing the setting in an /etc/sudoers.d
snippet.
-- Marc Haber <mh+debian-packages@zugschlus.de> Sat, 04 Jul 2026 12:57:42 +0200

have not fully understood the implicatoins of change, but suppose it is a benevolent, sensible change.

tux_99 · 2026-09-13 21:54:11

sudo is one of the first packages that I uninstall on laptops/desktops after a fresh installation.

It is not even meant for the purpose it's being used by most Linux distros, sudo is meant to give limited access to specific commands as root or other restricted user to specific users on a multi-user system, not as a "run everything you want as root" tool on a single user desktop/laptop system.

We have to thank Ubuntu for introducing this misuse of sudo on Linux.

Last edited by tux_99 (2026-09-13 21:55:27)

Altoid · 2026-09-13 23:04:45

Hello:

tux_99 wrote:

... as a "run everything you want as root" tool on a single user desktop ...

Not the way I use it, mostly thanks to my learning about it when on PCLinuxOS.
One of the main admins was quite adamant about it.
See: https://pclosmag.com/html/Issues/201205/page11.html

But yes, I agree that a great many people use it in the wrong way.
Mainly thanks to the Ubuntu distribution.

I am, of course, also interested in the implications of the announced change.

Best,

A.

fsmithred · Yesterday 00:00:09

What is says is that if you want to use sudo to run a command in /usr/local/(s)bin, you must now give the full path to the command.

What I see is that I do not have to give the full path to run the command with sudo, but maybe that's because I have the full path to the command already in my /etc/sudoers.d/usercommands. So for me, there's no change. Tested this in freia with the version of sudo mentioned above.

greenjeans · Yesterday 01:18:03

Wait, some of you are still using sudo?

fsmithred · Yesterday 01:30:33

Yeah, I have sudo NOPASSWD set for a few commands for one user. That's all.

Mercury · Yesterday 02:11:30

What is the "proper" way to run admin tasks? For example, what "should" I be using to edit system-wide conf files?

fsmithred · Yesterday 09:24:31

It's linux. There are 10 ways to do anything. Pick one.

If you have a root account, you can su to root to do admin tasks. If you don't have a root account, you need to use sudo to do admin tasks, and in that case, you're probably a member of the sudo group and can do anything with it.

The original intent of sudo was to allow fine-grained permissions for certain users or groups to do a few specific admin tasks rather than give them total root access.

What you should not do is log into a desktop session as root.

Altoid · Yesterday 10:41:54

Hello:

fsmithred wrote:

... to run a command in /usr/local/(s)bin, you must now give the full path ...

Right, thanks for that.

fsmithred wrote:

... have the full path to the command already in my /etc/sudoers.d/ ...

fsmithred wrote:

... sudo NOPASSWD set for a few commands.

That is how I have it set up.

Best,

A.

greenjeans · Yesterday 16:34:18

I don't know about a proper way, but on a single-user system i've always just used su. I have right-click extensions to edit a file as root, or to open a directory as root if I need to move some files around.

As far as the changes to sudo, what systems would make /usr/local/ writeable for a non-root user? That seems silly.

@Altoid that link was a blast from the past, I remember when Old Polack wrote it, PCLOS was really popular at the time and there had been a steady influx of new users posting "where's muh sudo?". OP was a brilliant guy, don't know if he's still around but I learned a lot from him.

Last edited by greenjeans (Yesterday 16:47:38)

Altoid · Yesterday 17:43:57

Hello:

greenjeans wrote:

... a blast from the past ...
... when Old Polack wrote it, PCLOS was really popular at the time ...

Quite so ...

greenjeans wrote:

... a brilliant guy, don't know if he's still around ...

Yes, I agree.

It seems that there was a fire/accident that took down the servers and a new forum had to be set up.
Apparently some stuff was lost and I cannot log-in or recover my PW.
Will try again when I have time.

Don't understand ...
No reliable off-site back-ups? 8^°

In any case, Texstar [packager/main dev] posted this earlier this year.
Seems he does not have contact information for one of his forum's senior admins. (?)
Go figure ...

Best,

A.

Last edited by Altoid (Yesterday 20:14:16)

rbit · Yesterday 17:46:32

greenjeans wrote:

As far as the changes to sudo, what systems would make /usr/local/ writeable for a non-root user? That seems silly.

my /usr/local/{bin,sbin} are owned by group staff, and group has write permission.

kapqa · Yesterday 20:08:30

sorry fo the crosspost, but just got this in "news" , again, and not really known what should make of it.
maybe it is of no relevance, after all.

adduser (3.155) unstable; urgency=medium
The GROUPHOMES, LETTERHOMES, SGID_HOME and QUOTAUSER options were
deprecated for a while and got removed in this release.
-- Marc Haber <mh+debian-packages@zugschlus.de> Mon, 19 Jan 2026 09:23:49 +0100

thanks.

coming back to the original quesit:

when i use ssh , feel more comfortable to login via user, and proceed from there with "sudo" when needed; rather than as root; is this warranted behaviour or is it better to login as root user?

whenever i use root, have feeling things could break more easily, maybe from experience.

thanks.thanks.

Last edited by kapqa (Yesterday 21:13:17)

Mercury · Yesterday 21:40:47

kapqa wrote:

is this warranted behaviour or is it better to login as root user?

This is, it seems, a matter of some opinion and debate. I'm of the opinion that it's your system and you should use it in the way that works for you, cognizant of the risks you take by doing so. Too many people who speak of open source and "freedom" have far too rigid opinions of how things ought to be done.

fsmithred wrote:

What you should not do is log into a desktop session as root.

I hope that's not a suggestion that all root tasks should be done through the command line only. I want my GUI file browser and text editor with a mouse cursor, right-click, clipboard, and tabs. I'd have given up on Linux long ago if I had to do all the debugging and customization exclusively in the CLI.

fsmithred · Yesterday 23:04:39

Running a single app as root is useful and sometime necessary. Running the entire desktop as root can be unnecessarily risky if you're online or if someone else could sit down at your station and use your computer.

greenjeans · Today 02:57:37

Thanks for that link @Altoid, I hope he's still around somewhere. His avatar used to be a cartoon chicken tapping on keys, I was raising chickens at the time and I had a lil banty rooster that looked a lot like his avatar, so I named him "OP junior" and posted pics frequently and he enjoyed that.

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#1 2026-09-13 10:01:33

Changes in sudo (upstream)

#2 2026-09-13 21:54:11

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#3 2026-09-13 23:04:45

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#4 Yesterday 00:00:09

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#5 Yesterday 01:18:03

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#6 Yesterday 01:30:33

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#7 Yesterday 02:11:30

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#8 Yesterday 09:24:31

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#9 Yesterday 10:41:54

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#10 Yesterday 16:34:18

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#11 Yesterday 17:43:57

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#12 Yesterday 17:46:32

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#13 Yesterday 20:08:30

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#14 Yesterday 21:40:47

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#15 Yesterday 23:04:39

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

#16 Today 02:57:37

Re: Changes in sudo (upstream)

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