[X4U] Application Folder - Permissions for unknown user.

[David Ledger]

>From: John Erdman <jperdman at gmail.com>
>I recently looked at the info on my Applications folder. I noticed
>that besides Myself (Read & Write Access) and Everyone (No Access)
>there are two "users" listed as "(unknown)". The user icons are grayed
>out. The first has Read & Write permissions. The second is listed as
>Read Only.
>There are no unknown users listed in System Preferences>Accounts.
>Guest accounts are disabled. So far I've been unable to discover the
>source.
>I don't like having unknown entities having write access to my
>computer. I suspect these "unknown" users might be related to an Adobe
>or Apple updater but I don't know for sure. I'd at least like to know
>if this is a normal state of affairs or if I ought to be more concerned.
>Should I be concerned?  Who are the Unknown Users?  How can I find 
>out who/what they are?  How can/Should I remove them?
>OS 10.5.5, 24" iMac 2.16 GHz Intel : Not on a network. : Have 
>broadband internet access via phone line DSL. Behind a NAT router. : 
>I am the only user of this computer. : Also, I am fairly cautious 
>about what I download or give permissions to.

Unix ownerships, groups, and ACLs (Access Control Lists that extend 
the basic Unix model) are always specified within the system by their 
numeric value. "unknown" just means that the ownership/permissions 
are given to users (numbers) who have no corresponding name. That 
also means that it's very difficult for a process to run as that user 
in order to take advantage of those permissions.

Nonetheless the entries should not be there. Was the Mac in stock at 
a shop when you got it? Could it have been a demo model? Is there 
anything unusual about the history of the disc drive?

David


-- 
David Ledger - Freelance Unix Sysadmin in the UK.
HP-UX specialist of hpUG technical user group (www.hpug.org.uk)
david.ledger at ivdcs.co.uk
www.ivdcs.co.uk