# No admins now? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 9, 2014, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340 "2014-01-09T05:10:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/21 "2014-01-10T17:47:18Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > That was a “head” hunter and I’d be wary of any positions they’re requesting of you. Please refrain from joking around in this forum. Your posting privileges are being discussed. ETA: Smeghead, that goes double for you. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/22 "2014-01-10T17:54:48Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > That was a “head” hunter and I’d be wary of any positions they’re requesting of you. Especially if the “position” is bend over and rest your head on this block… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/23 "2014-01-10T18:19:11Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Especially if the “position” is bend over and rest your head on this block\*\*…\*\* (Ellipsis bolding mine) Please note that the extra period is inappropriate for this forum. [QUOTE=wikipedia] The most common form of an ellipsis is a row of **three** periods or full stops (. . .) or a precomposed triple-dot glyph (…). [/QUOTE] Again, bolding mine. This is just a note, **Ivory Tower Denizen**. I probably would have ignored this, but you’ve been around a while and so I expect more from you. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/24 "2014-01-10T18:38:00Z")
I give 133% to the SDMB! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/25 "2014-01-10T18:45:05Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > What’s strange about this is that admins don’t have database access by default in vBulletin – you have to manually enable it by editing a configuration file and putting the user ids of any users you want to have that extra access, something I _highly_ doubt the SDMB did. And even if they had, the correct solution would be remove that access, not to remove the admins from the admin user group. To do this manually, what level of access do you need to have? Someone has to have at least file level access, so that they can grant permissions to others, right? My other idea is that they get the database by using some sort of exploit that only works through an administrator account. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/26 "2014-01-10T18:56:09Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > To do this manually, what level of access do you need to have? Someone has to have at least file level access, so that they can grant permissions to others, right? > > My other idea is that they get the database by using some sort of exploit that only works through an administrator account. Hm, you seem to know a lot about how this went down… New Admin \*\*Kayaker \*\*would like to request a word with you. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/27 "2014-01-10T19:00:04Z")
Even [Cecil](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php)has been demoted. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/28 "2014-01-10T19:01:26Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Even [Cecil](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php)has been demoted. Hasn’t that always been his title, though? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/29 "2014-01-10T19:10:59Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Phase one is complete. Expect my full Manifesto within 24 hours, and prepare to meet my demands. I’m sorry but we are all out of peeps. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/30 "2014-01-10T20:35:26Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Maybe they’ve all been demoted until they can figure out which one’s the hacker. They’re facing off like in that movie, _The Thing_. You’ve got to be f—ing kidding me. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/31 "2014-01-10T20:36:15Z")
Does it concern anyone else that no mods have commented on this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/32 "2014-01-10T20:38:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Hasn’t that always been his title, though? Still the Perfect Master, but now he’s being perfect as a Moderator. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/33 "2014-01-10T20:39:12Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Does it concern anyone else that no mods have commented on this thread? It says, perhaps, more about the Sun-Times than it does about the board. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/34 "2014-01-10T20:48:22Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Does it concern anyone else that no mods have commented on this thread? What are you talking about? New admin Kayaker’s been posting a bunch. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/35 "2014-01-10T20:50:04Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > What are you talking about? New admin Kayaker’s been posting a bunch. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/36 "2014-01-10T20:51:16Z")
What **carnivorousplant** said. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/37 "2014-01-10T20:57:14Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > To do this manually, what level of access do you need to have? Someone has to have at least file level access, so that they can grant permissions to others, right? Correct. Although anyone who has this level of access can pretty do anything they want, so it’s unlikely they’d bother going through the vB interface at that point. > [@](#): > > My other idea is that they get the database by using some sort of exploit that only works through an administrator account. This is probably what happened. My initial theory was that they did it because they were incorrectly postulating that the breach was caused by a hacked admin account pulling the data from the database directly, which would only be possible if they’d set those permissions up in advance. However, poster McNutty on my board did some research and explained that it appears that one can get database access by exploiting a security hole to install a malicious vB add-on, which admins have permission to do by default. There are enough ways to spoof a seemingly legitimate message from the server (e.g. a reported post) that it would have been very hard to defend against such an attack. So removing admin access makes sense until they can figure out how to prevent such an occurrence in the future. Given how rarely they change anything in the vB configuration here, it probably makes sense to keep any account used for posting at super moderator level access. When they need to do something admin-y, e.g. IP ban someone, they could set up separate accounts for that (e.g. TubaDiva-admin) that they only log into temporarily to perform AdminCP tasks. That’s what I would do, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/38 "2014-01-10T21:06:04Z")
Maybe the guy has a time machine. Goes forward to a time when he has already hacked in, gets an admin password and comes back in time to use the admin password to hack into the Straight Dope. I think they’d better look closely at those Dopers who have the highest scores in the Death Pool. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/39 "2014-01-10T21:13:37Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > What are you talking about? New admin Kayaker’s been posting a bunch. With my computer, it says Kayaker’s a guest. Or was I whooshed? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340/40 "2014-01-10T21:17:47Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > With my computer, it says Kayaker’s a guest. Or was I whooshed? Whooshed. He is only a Hall Monitor. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-admins-now/678340.md?page=3)