Shell shoveling, in
network security, is the act of
redirecting the
input and output
In computing, input/output (I/O, i/o, or informally io or IO) is the communication between an information processing system, such as a computer, and the outside world, such as another computer system, peripherals, or a human operator. Inputs ar ...
of a
shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...
to a service so that it can be remotely accessed, a remote shell.
In
computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...
, the most basic method of interfacing with the operating system is the shell. On
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
based systems, this is a program called
cmd.exe
cmd.exe, a.k.a. Command Prompt, is a shell program on later versions of Windows ( NT and CE families), OS/2,, eComStation, ArcaOS, and ReactOS. In some versions of Windows ( CE .NET 4.2, CE 5.0 and Embedded CE 6.0) it is referred to as ...
or
COMMAND.COM. On
Unix
Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...
or
Unix-like
A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X, *nix or *NIX) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Uni ...
systems, it may be any of a variety of programs such as
bash,
ksh, etc. This program accepts commands typed from a prompt and executes them, usually in real time, displaying the results to what is referred to as ''
standard output Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object t ...
'', usually a monitor or screen.
In the shell shoveling process, one of these programs is set to run (perhaps silently or without notifying someone observing the computer) accepting input from a remote system and redirecting output to the same remote system; therefore the operator of the ''shoveled'' shell is able to operate the computer as if they were present at the console.
See also
*
Console redirection
In DOS memory management, conventional memory, also called base memory, is the first 640 kilobytes of the memory on IBM PC or compatible systems. It is the read-write memory directly addressable by the processor for use by the operating system ...
*
CTTY (DOS command)
*
Serial over LAN redirection (SOL)
*
Remote Shell
The remote shell (rsh) is a command-line computer program that can execute shell commands as another user, and on another computer across a computer network.
The remote system to which ''rsh'' connects runs the ''rsh'' daemon (rshd). The dae ...
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shell Shoveling
Computer network security
Command shells