Re: The Trojan Horse and Client-Server

Paul Beardsell <psb_at_sambusys.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>I'm grappling with some problems in migrating from dumb terminal
>Oracle application to a client-server environment. Our customers
>want MS Windows clients. So I'm porting our Forms 2.3 to Forms 4.5.
>The database is on a Sequent Unix box.
>
>Q1: Is there any way I can safely use Novell Netware to safely
>identify my users to Oracle so that they don't have to identify
>themselves twice - once to the network and once to the database?
>Will getting the Netware for Sequent add-on help?
>
I believe that an auto-login (OPS$) SQL*Net client-server connection is inherently insecure, because the client can spoof the server into thinking the username is anything the user wants. I don't know of any way to get around the dual login problem.

>Q2: How do I know that a user is running the Oracle Form he is
>supposed to be. For example, I allow a database user to have insert
>permission on a table but I write a Form to verify that the inserts.
>But the user writes and installs his own version of the form without
>the verifications - How will I know?

Client-server application data integrity can't be guaranteed by the client, since the users can create their own forms (or connect using SQL*Plus, for that matter). One way around this is to create a non-default DB role that the user joins when he runs your forms. The V7 package DBMS_SESSION has a procedure to join a role dynamically. The role can also have a password. Your table privileges would be granted to this role. This allows your users to have the necessary DB privileges when they run your forms, but not when they connect with their own forms or some other tool. Received on Tue Aug 08 1995 - 00:00:00 CEST