From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: (from majordomo@localhost) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) id UAA32591; Mon, 19 Jan 2004 20:16:31 +0100 (MET) X-Authentication-Warning: pauillac.inria.fr: majordomo set sender to owner-caml-list@pauillac.inria.fr using -f Received: from concorde.inria.fr (concorde.inria.fr [192.93.2.39]) by pauillac.inria.fr (8.7.6/8.7.3) with ESMTP id UAA32609 for ; Mon, 19 Jan 2004 20:16:23 +0100 (MET) Received: from fichte.ai.univie.ac.at (fichte.ai.univie.ac.at [131.130.174.156]) by concorde.inria.fr (8.11.1/8.11.1) with ESMTP id i0JJGMP14820; Mon, 19 Jan 2004 20:16:22 +0100 (MET) Received: from fichte.ai.univie.ac.at (markus@localhost [127.0.0.1]) by fichte.ai.univie.ac.at (8.12.3/8.12.3/Debian-6.6) with ESMTP id i0JJFEHn005048; Mon, 19 Jan 2004 20:15:14 +0100 Received: (from markus@localhost) by fichte.ai.univie.ac.at (8.12.3/8.12.3/Debian-6.6) id i0JJFDD4005047; Mon, 19 Jan 2004 20:15:13 +0100 Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 20:15:13 +0100 From: Markus Mottl To: David Brown Cc: Richard Jones , Luc Maranget , Ocaml Mailing List Subject: Re: [Caml-list] ANNOUNCE: mod_caml 1.0.6 - includes security patch Message-ID: <20040119191513.GA4058@fichte.ai.univie.ac.at> Mail-Followup-To: David Brown , Richard Jones , Luc Maranget , Ocaml Mailing List References: <20040116093454.GA23909@redhat.com> <20040119111353.A31726@beaune.inria.fr> <20040119113637.GA30306@redhat.com> <20040119154333.A7394@beaune.inria.fr> <20040119161011.GA10845@redhat.com> <20040119174640.GA28829@fichte.ai.univie.ac.at> <20040119181835.GA18103@davidb.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20040119181835.GA18103@davidb.org> User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.1i X-Loop: caml-list@inria.fr X-Spam: no; 0.00; caml-list:01 2004:99 ocamlmktop:01 mytop:01 manpage:01 execve:01 execve:01 pathname:01 unsuspecting:01 caml:01 -custom:01 -custom:01 toplevel:01 executables:01 executables:01 Sender: owner-caml-list@pauillac.inria.fr Precedence: bulk On Mon, 19 Jan 2004, David Brown wrote: > On Mon, Jan 19, 2004 at 06:46:40PM +0100, Markus Mottl wrote: > > > All you need to do is create a toplevel using the "-custom"-flag, e.g.: > > > > ocamlmktop -custom -o mytop > > > > This is required under Unix, because only binary executables can be used > > for interpretation due to security concerns. > > Oddly enough, it works anyway on OSX. Should I report this as a > security problem to Apple? Well, there are certainly some risks associated with this "feature". It's much easier to replace scripts (= plain text) than binary executables, i.e. Trojan horses can enter the game more easily. The Linux manpage on "execve" states: execve() executes the program pointed to by filename. filename must be either a binary executable, or a script starting with a line of the form "#! interpreter [arg]". In the latter case, the interpreter must be a valid pathname for an executable which is not itself a script, which will be invoked as interpreter [arg] filename. Having interpreters become Trojan horses is a very bad thing indeed, because they are much more likely to be called by unsuspecting users... Regards, Markus -- Markus Mottl http://www.oefai.at/~markus markus@oefai.at ------------------- To unsubscribe, mail caml-list-request@inria.fr Archives: http://caml.inria.fr Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs FAQ: http://caml.inria.fr/FAQ/ Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners