5.26.2008

Clear out cached access keys for remote servers

via MacOSXHints.com on 5/6/08
This is a hint to avoid a potential security issue caused by a standard system function (or feature). If you connect to a service on a remote server, you will be asked for your login and password. If you say No to the 'Remember this password in my keychain' dialog, you may wonder why you will not be asked for your login and password next time you connect to the service.

In my case, I wanted show a remote service like VNC to a colleague while he was logged in on the local machine. I disconnected from the service and was able to connect to it again without being prompted for my login and password. This can be a security issue for many reasons, e.g. working on someone else's account etc.

Solution: To prevent reconnecting without a password, you need to delete the Kerberos Ticket that was created while connecting to the service the first time. This ticket expires after a certain amount of time (10 hours by default), but I guess a ticket that grants access for 10 hours ...