User {{{nobody}}} on a Unix system is traditionally user id {{{65534}}}. This user is used by NFS servers when they cannot trust the client-supplied uids and gids, or when the {{{root-squash}}} option is being used.

See [[https://www.kernel.org/doc/ols/2006/ols2006v2-pages-59-72.pdf || Why NFS Sucks]] and [[ https://www.oreilly.com/openbook/linag2/book/ch14.html || Linux Network Administrators Guide]] for more information on user {{{nobody}}}.

Some misguided programs or guides suggest that this user should be used for untrusted program execution or handling untrusted data. This is bad advice. '''Services should have their own, dedicated, user account'''. Even on sites where NFS is not being used, processes run as user {{{nobody}}} or files owned by user {{{nobody}}} may grant far more privileges than expected, especially if two services have been misconfigured in this fashion.

Do not use the user {{{nobody}}} for anything. It is for NFS.