[patch] rm can have undesired side-effects

[LI Xin]

Peter Jeremy wrote:
> On Mon, 2006-Oct-30 19:38:49 +1100, Peter Jeremy wrote:
>> the user is unaware that there are multiple links.  I don't think
>> that just unlinking the file and issuing a warning is a good solution
>> because it's then virtually impossible to locate the other copy(s)
>> of the file, which remains viewable.
> 
> I missed the fact that the warning message includes the inode number.
> My apologies.  This reduces "virtually impossible" to "hard".
> 
> I still think this current behaviour is undesirable and a security
> hole.  Maybe someone from the SO team would like to offer their
> opinion - I might just have my tinfoil hat on too tight tonight.

I think the concern of the removal is perfectly valid.  It's possible
that someone run:

find secret/ -type f -exec rm {} +

and there are zillions of files in secret/, causing the warning to be
scrolled over.  Also, it's possible that there is places that the user
can not enter.  Therefore, I agree that my checkin has introduced a
security hole and we should fix it.  I have posted a possible patch here
and to cvs-all@ for review.

Cheers,
-- 
Xin LI <delphij at delphij.net>	http://www.delphij.net/
FreeBSD - The Power to Serve!

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