setuid shell scripts

[Marcus J Ranum]

In article <13 at houligan.UUCP>, dave at murphy.UUCP (Rael's brother John) writes:
> It works on BSD4.2 and 4.3 systems.  ...

	When writing setuid shell scripts it's a good idea to specifically
set the PATH (not including '.' or any WRITEABLE directory)  You also must
avoid any programs that have a shell escape or can call a program with a
shell escape. 
	Usually when I have to do setuid shell scripts, I change directory
to someplace innocuous and unwritable, set the PATH to nothing, and call
*EVERYTHING* with explicit path names. Even then, it's a rotten idea to
use setuid shells when you have a perfectly good C compiler around and can
do a much better job...


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