Re: something magic about SYS.LINK$ ?

EdStevens wrote:
> Maxim Demenko wrote:
> > EdStevens schrieb:
> > > Oracle 9.2.0.7.0 on Win2003
> > >
> > > Stumbled on to this, and don't have an explanation:
> > >
> > > Connected as SYSTEM, with the standard, out-of-the-box DBA role:
> > >
> > > system_at_NPSTDB.WORLD> select count(*) from sys.link$;
> > > select count(*) from sys.link$
> > > *
> > > ERROR at line 1:
> > > ORA-01031: insufficient privileges
> > >
> > > A little further hunting shows that there are only 2 of the sys.$
> > > tables that this happens on ... SYS.LINK$ and SYS.USER_HISTORY$
> > >
> > >
> > > ???
> > >
> >
> > Maybe issue of O7_dictionary_accessibility ? If set to FALSE, all tables
> > owned by SYS must be granted explicitly ( select any table combined with
> > select any dictionary are not sufficient ).
> >
> > Best regards
> >
> > Maxim
>
> Well, O7_dictionary_accessibility = false, but if that were the issue,
> I shouldn't be able to get any of the sys.%$ tables, right?
>
> C:\>sqlplus system_at_npsp9
>
> SQL*Plus: Release 9.2.0.1.0 - Production on Fri Sep 2 13:01:52 2005
>
> Copyright (c) 1982, 2002, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
>
> Enter password:
>
> Connected to:
> Oracle9i Release 9.2.0.7.0 - Production
> JServer Release 9.2.0.7.0 - Production
>
> SQL>
> SQL> show parameter O7
>
> NAME TYPE VALUE
> ------------------------------------ -----------
> ------------------------------
> O7_DICTIONARY_ACCESSIBILITY boolean FALSE
>
>
> SQL> select table_name
> 2 from dba_tab_privs
> 3 where owner='SYS'
> 4 and grantee='SYSTEM'
> 5 and table_name like '%$'
> 6 /
>
> no rows selected
>
> SQL> select count(*) from sys.link$;
> select count(*) from sys.link$
> *
> ERROR at line 1:
> ORA-01031: insufficient privileges
>
>
> SQL> select count(*) from sys.access$;
>
> COUNT(*)
> ----------
> 10258
>
> There's no difference in ownership or object privileges between
> sys.link$ and sys.access$. I'm sure I'm overlooking something, but
> what?

The fact that SYS.LINK$ and SYS.USER_HISTORY$ both contain plaintext passwords for the accounts. With a SYSDBA privileged account these values are visible; any non-SYSDBA account should not have access to such information, which may be a result of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Of course it is questinoable whether *anyone* should have access to plaintext account passwords, and I would have expected Oracle to maintain their policy of only storing hashed passwords in the data dictionary. Apparently they had a valid reason for having such views, but I cannot understand what that reason could be.

David FItzjarrell Received on Fri Sep 02 2005 - 14:01:05 CDT