From: Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu>
To: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org>
Cc: "Michalis V." <mvar.40k@gmail.com>, 11912@debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#11912: 24.1; 'M' in Dired on a symlink does not refresh the display
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2021 10:32:01 -0700 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <8678ec5a-a5f2-8ae4-6212-c377c3abe9e8@cs.ucla.edu> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <87fsuyonpv.fsf@gnus.org>
[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1130 bytes --]
On 8/24/21 8:40 AM, Lars Ingebrigtsen wrote:
> I'm surprised that the `M' command even tries to do the chmod on the
> symlink.
Unfortunately the M command doesn't know in advance whether chmod will
work on the symlink, as that is platform and filesystem dependent (this
is in addition to the usual race-condition problem). So as a practical
matter the M command must try the chmod and report the failure somehow.
(Perhaps the reporting could be improved; I expect that's low priority.)
A few things:
* I neglected to document this behavior change, so I just now installed
the attached to fix that oversight.
* Because of this behavior change, the example Eli gives at the start of
Bug#11912 is now obsolete, as the bug has been fixed in a different way.
However, as Eli mentioned, there are other commands (like 'O') where the
bug is still present.
* And this suggests that some longstanding security and other bugs
remain in this area. I plan to file more bug reports that will cite
Bug#11912. If the other bugs are fixed, then Bug#11912 should be
completely obsolete and can be closed.
[-- Attachment #2: 0001-Doc-that-dired-do-chmod-no-longer-follows-symlinks.patch --]
[-- Type: text/x-patch, Size: 1764 bytes --]
From 2c8657f4f63e6d2b6e1d0866dd597bc85b422430 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu>
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2021 10:15:43 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Doc that dired-do-chmod no longer follows symlinks
* doc/emacs/dired.texi (Operating on Files):
* etc/NEWS: Document this security precaution.
---
doc/emacs/dired.texi | 4 +++-
etc/NEWS | 6 ++++++
2 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/doc/emacs/dired.texi b/doc/emacs/dired.texi
index 680b20c593..e84ed0f7b6 100644
--- a/doc/emacs/dired.texi
+++ b/doc/emacs/dired.texi
@@ -823,7 +823,9 @@ Operating on Files
Change the mode (also called @dfn{permission bits}) of the specified
files (@code{dired-do-chmod}). @var{modespec} can be in octal or
symbolic notation, like arguments handled by the @command{chmod}
-program.
+program. This command does not follow symbolic links, so it reports
+an error if you try to change the mode of a symbolic link on a
+platform where such modes are immutable.
@findex dired-do-chgrp
@kindex G @r{(Dired)}
diff --git a/etc/NEWS b/etc/NEWS
index 588290f433..07a78216b8 100644
--- a/etc/NEWS
+++ b/etc/NEWS
@@ -909,6 +909,12 @@ time zones will use a form like "+0100" instead of "CET".
If non-nil, Dired will kill the current buffer when selecting a new
directory to display.
++++
+*** Behavior change on 'dired-do-chmod'.
+As a security precaution, Dired's M command no longer follows symbolic
+links. Instead, it changes the symbolic link's own mode; this always
+fails on platforms where such modes are immutable.
+
---
*** Behavior change on 'dired-clean-confirm-killing-deleted-buffers'.
Previously, if 'dired-clean-up-buffers-too' was non-nil, and
--
2.30.2
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2021-08-24 17:32 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 13+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2012-07-11 16:30 bug#11912: 24.1; 'M' in Dired on a symlink does not refresh the display Eli Zaretskii
2021-08-24 10:23 ` Michalis V.
2021-08-24 15:40 ` Lars Ingebrigtsen
2021-08-24 17:32 ` Paul Eggert [this message]
2021-08-25 10:57 ` Lars Ingebrigtsen
2021-08-25 17:59 ` Paul Eggert
2021-08-26 13:52 ` Lars Ingebrigtsen
2021-08-26 3:57 ` Richard Stallman
2021-08-26 13:54 ` Lars Ingebrigtsen
2021-08-26 14:07 ` Andreas Schwab
2021-08-26 16:52 ` Paul Eggert
2021-08-27 3:30 ` Richard Stallman
2021-08-25 8:37 ` Michalis V.
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