Re: Re: [ANN] Org-babel integrated into Org-mode

[Carsten Dominik <carsten.dominik@gmail.com>]

Hi Matt, hi Eric,

Matt, thanks a lot for bringing this up.  This is indeed a very
important and serious issue.  We need to address it.  We need to
step back and reconsider this carefully.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely think that Org Babel should give
you enough rope to hang yourself.  But we have to make sure that
this will not happen to a happy and unsuspecting Org mode, or even
an unsuspecting Emacs user who by chance opens a file with  
extension .org.

I remember very well when  first realized that shell links could
really affect you badly.  It scared me.

You main proposal was to make Org Babel an optional module.
This will not solve the problem fully, I think, because we also
don't want that people who turn it on automatically commit
to potentially dangerous operations.  There is a lot of good stuff
in Babel which has nothing to do with code evaluation.

Here is what I propose (several items are similar to what Eric proposes)

1. A new variable org-turn-on-babel.  We can discuss the default.
    If it is nil, org-babel should not be loaded.
    A default of t would be fine with me if we implement other
    measures listed below.

2. As Eric proposes, a variable similar to org-confirm-shell-link- 
function
    This should by default query for confirmation on any org-babel
    code execution, and can be configured to shut up by people who know
    what they are doing.

3. Not loading emacs lisp evaluation by default.

4. A new key in the babel keymap for org-babel-execute-code-block,
    for example `C-c C-v e'.  This should be documented as the default
    key for this operation.

5. Removing org-babel-execute-code-block from `C-c C-c'.  Inclusion
    should be optional.

6. A section in the manual on code execution and associated security
    risks in Org mode.  This is not only about babel, but also about
    org-eval, org-eval-light, shell links and elisp links.  I have meant
    to write this section for a long time and would be willing to
    draft it. We could then refer to this section from a couple of
    places in the docs, without cluttering the docs with disclaimers.

The reason for 4 and 5 is that I believe Org-mode users are trained
to blindly press `C-c C-c' whenever they want to update something at
point.  Matt's example of a blog post about `rm -rf' is a very
realistic example for bad code being evaluated by mistake, not even
due to malicious cations.  I belive that a special key for this
action would gove a good measure of protection.

This is what I think - please let me know if you think I am overdoing  
it.

- Carsten


On Jun 29, 2010, at 8:23 PM, Matt Lundin wrote:

> Hi Eric,
>
> Thanks again for all the work that you, Dan, and Tom have put into
> org-babel. I'm glad to see it become part of org-mode!
>
> "Eric Schulte" <schulte.eric@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> 2) Babel will now be loaded by default along with the rest of Org- 
>> mode.
>>   This means that *everyone* currently using babel will need to  
>> change
>>   their Emacs config and remove the (require 'org-babel-int) and/or
>>   (require 'org-babel) lines.
>
> I would like to request that org-babel be made an optional module. I  
> ask
> this as someone who uses org-babel regularly. Here are my reasons:
>
>  - Org-babel adds rather specific and complex functionality to org- 
> mode
>    that those who use it as a simple outliner and todo manager do not
>    require. (In other words, an option to turn it off might be nice  
> for
>    those who are worried about "feature creep.")
>
>  - Org-babel increases the risk of accidentally executing malicious or
>    dangerous code when typing C-c C-c on a src block or exporting a
>    file. Perhaps users should activate it only after they understand
>    the risks.
>
>    + For instance, I might write a blog post warning about the dangers
>      of typing "rm -rf ~/". If I put this between #+begin_src sh
>      and #+end_src and unthinkingly hit C-c C-c, I would be in  
> trouble.
>      I believe this is the reason for the variables
>      org-confirm-shell-link-function and
>      org-confirm-elisp-link-function.
>
>    + This is admitted a bit far-fetched as an example, as it would
>      require one to have loaded ob-sh.el. But since elisp execution is
>      activated by default, there remain opportunities for unwittingly
>      executing code that is meant for other purposes (e.g., warnings,
>      examples, etc.).
>
>>   Support for evaluating emacs-lisp code blocks is loaded by default.
>>   All other languages will need to be required explicitly.  To  
>> conform
>>   to Emacs filename specifications all language require lines have  
>> been
>>   shortened from e.g.
>>
>>   (require 'org-babel-sh)
>>
>>   to
>>
>>   (require 'ob-sh)
>
> When I run make clean && make && make install I find that the language
> directory is not installed. Does the langs directory require a manual
> installation?
>
> Also, with make install, the ob-* files are installed on the same  
> level
> as the org-files, yet lines 108-114 in org.el indicate that they  
> should
> be installed in a babel subdirectory.
>
> Thanks!
> Matt
>
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- Carsten