Security question regarding directory and file permissions

From: Mhoram (mwathke_at_netscape.net)
Date: 06/05/03 

Date: 5 Jun 2003 07:23:37 -0700

I am wondering if the following scenario (which I can produce on
RedHat 8 and RedHat 9 systems, but not on AIX or Solaris) is a bug or
is done by design.

I create a directory called /test with permissions of 777. Then, as
user1, I create a file called testfile in that directory. The file
has permissions of 664, owner is user1, and group is user1. I then
log in as user2, change to the test directory, and edit the file using
vi. Vi correctly states that the file is being opened read-only.
While still in vi, I add a line to the file and try to save it using
:w – to which vi again states that the file is read-only. So far so
good. But if I save my changes using :w! - vi allows the change.
When I exit vi and do an ls, the file still has permissions of 664,
but is now owned by user2 with a group of user2.

Is this how it should work? I thought that file permissions would
override the directory permissions in the above example when trying to
write to the file. And even if the file changes should be allowed to
be written, I was certainly surprised to see the owner and group
change.

Thanks for any input.

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