On Thu, 7 Mar 2002, at 8:40am, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>> Using this feature, an HTML form variable called "foo" results in a
>> language variable called "$foo" (in Perl, at least).  So the attacker
>> submits the "form" with extra variables that do things like change your
>> path, shell, internal authentication variables, etc., etc.  Basically, 
>> the attacker can modify your program's state at will.
> 
> I don't think that's true.  Yes, you can set variables like that, but 
> you can also turn that off and state explicity what variables get set 
> from the HTML form.

  Ummm... huh?  That is what I said.  It is a bad idea to use these
features, but they are there, for many different platforms.

> Also, things like path, shell, and other environmental variables are all
> set using the global "%ENV" hash, which *should* be cleared out and set to
> known, safe, and accepted defaults.

  Which won't matter much if anyone on the web can reset them for you.  :-)

> While I agree that Perl has many of the "features" you're complaining
> about, it is also completely possible to use them in a safe and consistent
> manner without getting into trouble.

  Uhhh... yah.  That was my point.

  I agree with everything you said in this message, except for the "I don't
think that's true part", since I was saying the same thing you are.  :-)

-- 
Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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