Arch Linux

n1l5

Member

Registered: 2015-12-31

Posts: 31

Appearance of "Filesystem root" directory in non-root user's desktop

Hello All,

I recently had an issue with updating an Archlinux system; specifically, I received the "failed to commit transaction (conflicting files)" error after executing "pacman -Syu". I followed the instructions in the Archwiki page, namely "If the file is not owned by another package, rename the file which 'exists in filesystem' and re-issue the update command. If all goes well, the file may then be removed". I was able to update after renaming the files listed in the error description, however, after restarting the system, a directory named "Filesystem root" has appeared in the desktop of the GUI ( LXDE ), which links to the root directory, but does not appear when I "ls -al /Desktop". If I open the terminal in this "Filesystem root" directory, and "ls -al", I see the same files and permissions as if I "cd /; ls -al". I have tried to undo the file renaming, but get a "cannot stat '(renamed filename)' : No such file or directory" error for all the renamed files I have tried to revert. I am wondering if there are security implications to having this "Filesystem root" directory in non-root user's desktop, and if so, how to fix this?

Thank you for your time,

Nils

loafer

Member

From: the pub

Registered: 2009-04-14

Posts: 1,772

Re: Appearance of "Filesystem root" directory in non-root user's desktop

I'm not sure what the actual problem is.  Can you not remove the desktop file?  The permsssions will not have have changed so there are no security implications as users still have access to the correct files etc.  Perhaps they can see some other things, but the don't have privileged access to do or change anything.

---

All men have stood for freedom...
For freedom is the man that will turn the world upside down.
Gerrard Winstanley.

Slithery

Administrator

From: Norfolk, UK

Registered: 2013-12-01

Posts: 5,776

Re: Appearance of "Filesystem root" directory in non-root user's desktop

but does not appear when I "ls -al /Desktop".

I'm guessing that you don't have a directory called /Desktop. Are you sure that you shouldn't be looking for ~/Desktop instead?

---

No, it didn't "fix" anything. It just shifted the brokeness one space to the right. - jasonwryan
Closing -- for deletion; Banning -- for muppetry. - jasonwryan

aur - dotfiles

ayekat

Member

Registered: 2011-01-17

Posts: 1,591

Re: Appearance of "Filesystem root" directory in non-root user's desktop

Please be aware that what you see on your desktop and what is contained in ~/Desktop is not the same thing¹. The program managing the icons on your desktop usually shows not only the content of the ~/Desktop directory, but also things like the Trash, a link to your home directory, a link to each device filesystem (USB drives, CD-ROM drives, your system's root directory), etc. -- so no, you won't find these things in your ~/Desktop directory, but as a setting somewhere in a configuration file.

Besides, as loafer mentioned, there is no security issue in having a link to the root directory: every user can access (most of) the contents under the root directory.
If anything, it's just a cosmetic issue; have you tried disabling the icon in your LXDE preferences?

___
¹ This is a prime example for showing that folders and directories are, in fact, not the same thing.

Last edited by ayekat (2017-01-30 11:28:24)

---

pkgs │ hacks │ cfg │ blag

n1l5

Member

Registered: 2015-12-31

Posts: 31

Re: Appearance of "Filesystem root" directory in non-root user's desktop

Hello All,

Thank you for your help. I do not have the option of deleting the desktop file as far as I am aware of; there is an option to "Unmount Volume", however, I am hesitant to do this, given that I do not know what the result may be ( I suspect not a favorable one ). I am looking under "~/Desktop", not "/Desktop"; I apologize for the typo. I did go into "Desktop" under the "Settings" menu of LXDE, and was able to remove the icon from the desktop. Apparently, the system considers the "Filesystem root" a volume, and lists it as an "Other Device". I am a bit confused as to why this is, and why it seemed to show up after this last round of updating. Also, just to be clear from the infosec point of view, there is nothing that can be gleaned from having access to this icon on the desktop that couldn't otherwise be ascertained from the shell?

Thank you again,

Nils