User hierarchy keeps Sharing itself on network!

paul1149 · 05 Dec 2010

This is bizarre. It happened a month ago, and I thought I must have done something to cause it. But now it has happened again, and I know I did nothing.

I open Explorer to check what computers are on the LAN. I see that I'm the only one. Fine. Then I expand my computer name, to discover not only my shared folder, but my entire User hierarchy on the C drive. I right-click the User folder and check, and indeed it is Shared. I break the sharing and it disappears off the network.

Obviously, this is a massive privacy leak (theoretical in my case, but nonetheless...).

I have scanned using several programs, and the system is clean.

Win7, hp, 64b.

kegobeer · 05 Dec 2010

Have you checked advanced sharing settings? And have you checked the sharing settings for your folder? You can see them, because you own them, but if you click the Share... button or the Advanced Sharing... button, you should see that the folder isn't really shared out to anyone other than you.

paul1149 · 05 Dec 2010

Advanced Sharing is where I had just disabled Sharing.

kegobeer · 05 Dec 2010

I guess I'm confused by your OP. Are you saying that you disabled sharing previously, but all of a sudden file sharing is enabled again?

paul1149 · 05 Dec 2010

Exactly. I never did enable sharing for these folders, and now I've had to disable it twice.

kegobeer · 05 Dec 2010

paul1149 said:

Exactly. I never did enable sharing for these folders, and now I've had to disable it twice.

I'm still confused. You said "for these folders", but advanced sharing disables file and printer sharing for all folders, not specific ones. Maybe we aren't talking about the same advanced sharing. I'm talking about clicking on the orb, typing "advanced sharing" (and clicking on Manage advanced sharing settings), and making global changes.

paul1149 · 05 Dec 2010

I see. I was referring to the Advanced Sharing button on the Sharing properties sheet of the hierarchy.

One other fact. A few days ago I very temporarily switched from a workgroup to a homegroup, and now I see under global Advanced Sharing that I had Public folders shared on homegroups. I don't see how this would cause such a massive security failure, especially to an entire hierarchy, but it's the only slightly unusual thing I can recall that has happened to this system.

kegobeer · 05 Dec 2010

Like I said, it's not actually being shared. User files cannot be shared to anyone, unless you specifically grant them not only sharing rights but local security rights. There are a bunch of steps you have to make in order for your personal files to be shared to anyone at all. There's no "security failure" at all. Get another computer, put it on your workgroup, and try to access your files with a different user on the second computer. You'll find it isn't possible. I have five Windows 7 computers, an Apple MacBook Pro, and a Windows Home Server. I can't access my personal "shared" files from any of those computers.

If you don't have any other computers and you don't share files, simply turn off file and printer sharing. If you want to keep file/printer sharing on, check out one of my recent posts in another networking thread - I list common advanced sharing settings in it.

paul1149 · 05 Dec 2010

Next time it happens I'll do just that, but there's no telling when that might be. But this doesn't explain why the hierarchy was suddenly listed under Network. I don't even want the folders advertised, much less shared.

kegobeer · 05 Dec 2010

paul1149 said:

Next time it happens I'll do just that, but there's no telling when that might be. But this doesn't explain why the hierarchy was suddenly listed under Network. I don't even want the folders advertised, much less shared.

They aren't advertised. I have file and printer sharing enabled on my laptop, but I don't have any folders shared (even though I can "see" the user folders listed in the network while browsing from my laptop). I also have password protected sharing and require user accounts and passwords, per the advanced sharing settings. When I go to any other computer, my PC is listed in the network but none of the files are available or listed unless the correct user/password info is entered on the remote computer.