From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: main.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Miles Bader Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.bugs Subject: Re: security problem in emacs Date: 01 Jan 2003 03:00:29 +0900 Organization: Global Online Japan Sender: bug-gnu-emacs-bounces+gnu-bug-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Message-ID: <87u1gunk5e.fsf@tc-1-100.kawasaki.gol.ne.jp> References: <3E11ADF9.3070902@guninski.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: main.gmane.org 1041357774 21386 80.91.224.249 (31 Dec 2002 18:02:54 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@main.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 18:02:54 +0000 (UTC) Return-path: Original-Received: from monty-python.gnu.org ([199.232.76.173]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 18TQj6-0005Yl-00 for ; Tue, 31 Dec 2002 19:02:53 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.10.13) id 18TQjs-0006iy-01 for gnu-bug-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Tue, 31 Dec 2002 13:03:40 -0500 Original-Received: from list by monty-python.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.10.13) id 18TQjc-0006hT-00 for bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu; Tue, 31 Dec 2002 13:03:24 -0500 Original-Received: from mail by monty-python.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.10.13) id 18TQjZ-0006fS-00 for bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu; Tue, 31 Dec 2002 13:03:23 -0500 Original-Received: from chx400.switch.ch ([130.59.10.2]) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.10.13) id 18TQgy-0005cZ-00 for bug-gnu-emacs@prep.ai.mit.edu; Tue, 31 Dec 2002 13:00:40 -0500 Original-Received: from nnrp.gol.com ([203.216.7.70]) by chx400.switch.ch with esmtp (Exim 3.20 #1) id 18TQgu-0002QZ-00 for gnu-emacs-bug@moderators.isc.org; Tue, 31 Dec 2002 19:00:36 +0100 Original-Received: from news by nnrp.gol.com with local (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 18TQgp-0006bw-00 for ; Wed, 01 Jan 2003 03:00:31 +0900 Original-To: gnu-emacs-bug@moderators.isc.org Original-Path: not-for-mail Original-Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.bug Original-Lines: 35 Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: tc-2-160.kawasaki.gol.ne.jp Original-X-Trace: nnrp.gol.com 1041357631 25415 203.216.25.160 (31 Dec 2002 18:00:31 GMT) Original-X-Complaints-To: abuse@gol.com Original-NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 18:00:31 +0000 (UTC) System-Type: i686-pc-linux-gnu X-BeenThere: bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1b5 Precedence: list List-Id: Bug reports for GNU Emacs, the Swiss army knife of text editors List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Archive: List-Unsubscribe: , Errors-To: bug-gnu-emacs-bounces+gnu-bug-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: main.gmane.org gmane.emacs.bugs:4124 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.bugs:4124 Georgi Guninski writes: > 1. I found 2 security bugs on release version of emacs in less than > week. How many left do you think are? Of course the idea of warning > about eval or hooks seems good, but covering all cases of non-obvious > evals in a large project is difficult task. To be fair, both your examples were already taken care of. > 2. Lusers like micro$oft thought in the beginning that scripting in > email/word is a good idea and it is sandboxed. Now it is off by > default in their email products. Think about it. This is not scripting. Whether or not emacs is as restrictive as it should be, I don't know, but there's clearly a large subset of variables/values that can quite safely be set. Yes, if emacs were the kernel, it would have to take a more conservative approach -- but it's not, and convience _is_ important. [Of course, it helps that the `local variables' section is not interpreted for such obviously suspicious sources such as email or news, and that emacs users are in general a more clueful lot than typical MS product users] > 3. Local variables are not portable accross editors, which makes them > almost useless, unless every document has all the version of local > variables for every editor. Who cares about other editors? I certainly don't. -Miles -- `Cars give people wonderful freedom and increase their opportunities. But they also destroy the environment, to an extent so drastic that they kill all social life' (from _A Pattern Language_)