[Techtalk] undeletable files

SiniMäkelä sini.makela at helsinki.fi
Tue Mar 26 20:29:47 EST 2002


> Now, after the server is mostly recovered,
> I have two files that I cannot delete or replace
> as root with rm -f. /usr/sbin/sshd and
> /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit. It merely tells me that I
> don't have permission and can't unlink the file.
> 
> How do I delete a file that I can't delete??

This might no directly help you with your problem, but is something I've
learnt by experience and following various (linux) security forums: 

You can't "recover" the system.

There is *nothing* you can trust in your current system, thus there is
no other way to make it secure again, than reinstall it. I know it sounds
unreasonable and might cause severe data loss if you haven't made
back-ups, but it's really the only way. I'm sorry.

Good luck. :)

- Sini



More information about the Techtalk mailing list