diff --git a/ipn/ipnserver/conn_linux.go b/ipn/ipnserver/conn_linux.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1aca57e26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ipn/ipnserver/conn_linux.go
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2021 Tailscale Inc & AUTHORS All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// +build linux
+
+package ipnserver
+
+import (
+	"net"
+
+	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
+	"tailscale.com/types/logger"
+)
+
+func isReadonlyConn(c net.Conn, logf logger.Logf) (ro bool) {
+	ro = true // conservative default for naked returns below
+	uc, ok := c.(*net.UnixConn)
+	if !ok {
+		logf("unexpected connection type %T", c)
+		return
+	}
+	raw, err := uc.SyscallConn()
+	if err != nil {
+		logf("SyscallConn: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
+
+	var cred *unix.Ucred
+	cerr := raw.Control(func(fd uintptr) {
+		cred, err = unix.GetsockoptUcred(int(fd),
+			unix.SOL_SOCKET,
+			unix.SO_PEERCRED)
+	})
+	if cerr != nil {
+		logf("raw.Control: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		logf("raw.Control: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
+	if cred.Uid == 0 {
+		// root is not read-only.
+		return false
+	}
+	logf("non-root connection from %v (read-only)", cred.Uid)
+	return true
+}
diff --git a/ipn/ipnserver/conn_no_ucred.go b/ipn/ipnserver/conn_no_ucred.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c50e4778d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ipn/ipnserver/conn_no_ucred.go
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2021 Tailscale Inc & AUTHORS All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// +build !linux
+
+package ipnserver
+
+import (
+	"net"
+
+	"tailscale.com/types/logger"
+)
+
+func isReadonlyConn(c net.Conn, logf logger.Logf) bool {
+	// Windows doesn't need/use this mechanism, at least yet. It
+	// has a different last-user-wins auth model.
+
+	// And on Darwin, we're not using it yet, as the Darwin
+	// tailscaled port isn't yet done, and unix.Ucred and
+	// unix.GetsockoptUcred aren't in x/sys/unix.
+
+	// TODO(bradfitz): OpenBSD and FreeBSD should implement this too.
+	// But their x/sys/unix package is different than Linux, so
+	// I didn't include it for now.
+	return false
+}
diff --git a/ipn/ipnserver/server.go b/ipn/ipnserver/server.go
index 745f72a08..c4fd95a2b 100644
--- a/ipn/ipnserver/server.go
+++ b/ipn/ipnserver/server.go
@@ -268,6 +268,10 @@ func (s *server) serveConn(ctx context.Context, c net.Conn, logf logger.Logf) {
 	defer s.removeAndCloseConn(c)
 	logf("[v1] incoming control connection")
 
+	if isReadonlyConn(c, logf) {
+		ctx = ipn.ReadonlyContextOf(ctx)
+	}
+
 	for ctx.Err() == nil {
 		msg, err := ipn.ReadMsg(br)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -279,7 +283,7 @@ func (s *server) serveConn(ctx context.Context, c net.Conn, logf logger.Logf) {
 			return
 		}
 		s.bsMu.Lock()
-		if err := s.bs.GotCommandMsg(msg); err != nil {
+		if err := s.bs.GotCommandMsg(ctx, msg); err != nil {
 			logf("GotCommandMsg: %v", err)
 		}
 		gotQuit := s.bs.GotQuit
@@ -355,7 +359,7 @@ func (s *server) addConn(c net.Conn, isHTTP bool) (ci connIdentity, err error) {
 		if doReset {
 			s.logf("identity changed; resetting server")
 			s.bsMu.Lock()
-			s.bs.Reset()
+			s.bs.Reset(context.TODO())
 			s.bsMu.Unlock()
 		}
 	}()
@@ -407,7 +411,7 @@ func (s *server) removeAndCloseConn(c net.Conn) {
 		} else {
 			s.logf("client disconnected; stopping server")
 			s.bsMu.Lock()
-			s.bs.Reset()
+			s.bs.Reset(context.TODO())
 			s.bsMu.Unlock()
 		}
 	}
@@ -581,7 +585,7 @@ func Run(ctx context.Context, logf logger.Logf, logid string, getEngine func() (
 	server.bs = ipn.NewBackendServer(logf, b, server.writeToClients)
 
 	if opts.AutostartStateKey != "" {
-		server.bs.GotCommand(&ipn.Command{
+		server.bs.GotCommand(context.TODO(), &ipn.Command{
 			Version: version.Long,
 			Start: &ipn.StartArgs{
 				Opts: ipn.Options{
diff --git a/ipn/message.go b/ipn/message.go
index b8ef74a4f..a9106dac7 100644
--- a/ipn/message.go
+++ b/ipn/message.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package ipn
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"context"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
@@ -20,6 +21,24 @@ import (
 	"tailscale.com/version"
 )
 
+type readOnlyContextKey struct{}
+
+// IsReadonlyContext reports whether ctx is a read-only context, as currently used
+// by Unix non-root users running the "tailscale" CLI command. They can run "status",
+// but not much else.
+func IsReadonlyContext(ctx context.Context) bool {
+	return ctx.Value(readOnlyContextKey{}) != nil
+}
+
+// ReadonlyContextOf returns ctx wrapped with a context value that
+// will make IsReadonlyContext reports true.
+func ReadonlyContextOf(ctx context.Context) context.Context {
+	if IsReadonlyContext(ctx) {
+		return ctx
+	}
+	return context.WithValue(ctx, readOnlyContextKey{}, readOnlyContextKey{})
+}
+
 var jsonEscapedZero = []byte(`\u0000`)
 
 type NoArgs struct{}
@@ -111,7 +130,7 @@ func (bs *BackendServer) SendInUseOtherUserErrorMessage(msg string) {
 
 // GotCommandMsg parses the incoming message b as a JSON Command and
 // calls GotCommand with it.
-func (bs *BackendServer) GotCommandMsg(b []byte) error {
+func (bs *BackendServer) GotCommandMsg(ctx context.Context, b []byte) error {
 	cmd := &Command{}
 	if len(b) == 0 {
 		return nil
@@ -119,15 +138,15 @@ func (bs *BackendServer) GotCommandMsg(b []byte) error {
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(b, cmd); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	return bs.GotCommand(cmd)
+	return bs.GotCommand(ctx, cmd)
 }
 
-func (bs *BackendServer) GotFakeCommand(cmd *Command) error {
+func (bs *BackendServer) GotFakeCommand(ctx context.Context, cmd *Command) error {
 	cmd.Version = version.Long
-	return bs.GotCommand(cmd)
+	return bs.GotCommand(ctx, cmd)
 }
 
-func (bs *BackendServer) GotCommand(cmd *Command) error {
+func (bs *BackendServer) GotCommand(ctx context.Context, cmd *Command) error {
 	if cmd.Version != version.Long && !cmd.AllowVersionSkew {
 		vs := fmt.Sprintf("GotCommand: Version mismatch! frontend=%#v backend=%#v",
 			cmd.Version, version.Long)
@@ -141,12 +160,33 @@ func (bs *BackendServer) GotCommand(cmd *Command) error {
 		})
 		return nil
 	}
+
+	// TODO(bradfitz): finish plumbing context down to all the methods below;
+	// currently we just check for read-only contexts in this method and
+	// then never use contexts again.
+
+	// Actions permitted with a read-only context:
+	if c := cmd.RequestEngineStatus; c != nil {
+		bs.b.RequestEngineStatus()
+		return nil
+	} else if c := cmd.RequestStatus; c != nil {
+		bs.b.RequestStatus()
+		return nil
+	} else if c := cmd.Ping; c != nil {
+		bs.b.Ping(c.IP)
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	if IsReadonlyContext(ctx) {
+		msg := "permission denied"
+		bs.send(Notify{ErrMessage: &msg})
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	if cmd.Quit != nil {
 		bs.GotQuit = true
 		return errors.New("Quit command received")
-	}
-
-	if c := cmd.Start; c != nil {
+	} else if c := cmd.Start; c != nil {
 		opts := c.Opts
 		opts.Notify = bs.send
 		return bs.b.Start(opts)
@@ -165,27 +205,17 @@ func (bs *BackendServer) GotCommand(cmd *Command) error {
 	} else if c := cmd.SetWantRunning; c != nil {
 		bs.b.SetWantRunning(*c)
 		return nil
-	} else if c := cmd.RequestEngineStatus; c != nil {
-		bs.b.RequestEngineStatus()
-		return nil
-	} else if c := cmd.RequestStatus; c != nil {
-		bs.b.RequestStatus()
-		return nil
 	} else if c := cmd.FakeExpireAfter; c != nil {
 		bs.b.FakeExpireAfter(c.Duration)
 		return nil
-	} else if c := cmd.Ping; c != nil {
-		bs.b.Ping(c.IP)
-		return nil
-	} else {
-		return fmt.Errorf("BackendServer.Do: no command specified")
 	}
+	return fmt.Errorf("BackendServer.Do: no command specified")
 }
 
-func (bs *BackendServer) Reset() error {
+func (bs *BackendServer) Reset(ctx context.Context) error {
 	// Tell the backend we got a Logout command, which will cause it
 	// to forget all its authentication information.
-	return bs.GotFakeCommand(&Command{Logout: &NoArgs{}})
+	return bs.GotFakeCommand(ctx, &Command{Logout: &NoArgs{}})
 }
 
 type BackendClient struct {
diff --git a/ipn/message_test.go b/ipn/message_test.go
index 1a657bc2f..9cd6a887e 100644
--- a/ipn/message_test.go
+++ b/ipn/message_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package ipn
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"context"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -81,7 +82,7 @@ func TestClientServer(t *testing.T) {
 		serverToClientCh <- append([]byte{}, b...)
 	}
 	clientToServer := func(b []byte) {
-		bs.GotCommandMsg(b)
+		bs.GotCommandMsg(context.TODO(), b)
 	}
 	slogf := func(fmt string, args ...interface{}) {
 		t.Logf("s: "+fmt, args...)
diff --git a/safesocket/unixsocket.go b/safesocket/unixsocket.go
index ad96ac7be..996a274b9 100644
--- a/safesocket/unixsocket.go
+++ b/safesocket/unixsocket.go
@@ -64,10 +64,33 @@ func listen(path string, port uint16) (ln net.Listener, _ uint16, err error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, 0, err
 	}
-	os.Chmod(path, 0600)
+	os.Chmod(path, socketPermissionsForOS())
 	return pipe, 0, err
 }
 
+// socketPermissionsForOS returns the permissions to use for the
+// tailscaled.sock.
+func socketPermissionsForOS() os.FileMode {
+	if runtime.GOOS == "linux" {
+		// On Linux, the ipn/ipnserver package looks at the Unix peer creds
+		// and only permits read-only actions from non-root users, so we want
+		// this opened up wider.
+		//
+		// TODO(bradfitz): unify this all one in place probably, moving some
+		// of ipnserver (which does much of the "safe" bits) here. Maybe
+		// instead of net.Listener, we should return a type that returns
+		// an identity in addition to a net.Conn? (returning a wrapped net.Conn
+		// would surprise downstream callers probably)
+		//
+		// TODO(bradfitz): if OpenBSD and FreeBSD do the equivalent peercreds
+		// stuff that's in ipn/ipnserver/conn_ucred.go, they should also
+		// return 0666 here.
+		return 0666
+	}
+	// Otherwise, root only.
+	return 0600
+}
+
 // connectMacOSAppSandbox connects to the Tailscale Network Extension,
 // which is necessarily running within the macOS App Sandbox.  Our
 // little dance to connect a regular user binary to the sandboxed