Ubuntu
x11-xserver-utils package

xhost access control fails to add other users

Bug #1448431 reported by asgard2
28
This bug affects 6 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
x11-xserver-utils (Ubuntu)
Confirmed
High
Unassigned

Bug Description

Since 15.04 it is not possible to allow access control to a specific user.

Tested with the current xubuntu 15.04 live iso file, it is the same problem.
$ md5sum xubuntu-15.04-desktop-amd64.iso
586604cdb814f906f7c18345138f503b xubuntu-15.04-desktop-amd64.iso

It can easily reproduced by adding another user:

sudo adduser user2

xhost +SI:localuser:user2
localuser:user2 being added to access control list

su user2

But it is sill not possible to start gui applications.

user2@xubuntu:~$ xclock
No protocol specified
Error: Can't open display: :0.0

user2@xubuntu:~$ /usr/bin/firefox

(process:3130): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_slice_set_config: assertion 'sys_page_size == 0' failed
No protocol specified
No protocol specified
Error: cannot open display: :0.0

a workaround would be:
xhost +local:
non-network local connections being added to access control list

added apport-collect 1448431
---
ApportVersion: 2.17.2-0ubuntu1
Architecture: amd64
CasperVersion: 1.360
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 15.04
LiveMediaBuild: Xubuntu 15.04 "Vivid Vervet" - Release amd64 (20150422.1)
Package: x11-xserver-utils 7.7+2ubuntu2
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.19.0-15.15-generic 3.19.3
Tags: vivid
Uname: Linux 3.19.0-15-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
_MarkForUpload: True

See original description
Revision history for this message
asgard2 (kamp000x) wrote : Dependencies.txt

apport information

tags: added: apport-collected vivid
description: updated
Revision history for this message
asgard2 (kamp000x) wrote : JournalErrors.txt

apport information

description: updated
asgard2 (kamp000x)
description: updated
asgard2 (kamp000x)
tags: added: access control xhost
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

Changed in x11-xserver-utils (Ubuntu):
status: New → Confirmed
Alberto Salvia Novella (es20490446e)
Changed in x11-xserver-utils (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → High
Revision history for this message
ntfwc (ntfwc) wrote :

I have used this functionality extensively, and wrote a few scripts to make it easier to run programs as other users. So I ran into this rather quickly on 15.04. As a workaround, you can use xauth instead. For example, as a script:

#!/bin/sh
OTHER_USER=user2

echo "Giving $OTHER_USER xauth key"
XAUTH_KEY=$(xauth list | grep $(uname -n) | sed -n '1,1p' | cut -d ' ' -f 5)

#If XAUTHORITY is set, it probably won't be a file writable by the other user
unset XAUTHORITY

sudo -Hu $OTHER_USER xauth add $DISPLAY . $XAUTH_KEY

sudo -Hu $OTHER_USER xclock

echo "Taking $OTHER_USER xauth key"
sudo -Hu $OTHER_USER xauth remove $DISPLAY

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