Gaining true root access on Darwin / Mac OS X
Mac OS X exposes an "admin" group, but not the traditional "root" account nor the "wheel" group.
To gain root access:
- create an account in the "admin" group
- telnet to the server using that admin account
- once logged in, run the command "sudo vi". The sudo command allows you to temporarily inherit root privileges
- once in vi, enter "<escape> !su". This will suspend vi
- you will be returned to the shell, but you will retain root privileges
- do all your root stuff
- type "exit" to return to the sudo vi application
- enter "<escape> !q" to quit vi
- you are now back to your admin non-root shell
"Gaining true root access on Darwin / Mac OS X"
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