> Multics code was not immune to buffer overflows, but in most cases > the effect was blunted because the out-of-range index values could > only affect data beyond the current activation record--in contrast > with most linear addressing systems where an overflow is almost > always able to reach important values like the return address.
This is only because the libraries used store later characters in a string at higher addresses (as compared to earlier characters). If the string libraries stored strings the other way around (with the earlier characters at the higher addresses), downward-growing stacks would have exactly this kind of buffer overrun protection. Hmm, I wonder if there's something useful lurking there. /~\ The ASCII der Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML [EMAIL PROTECTED] / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B _______________________________________________ Secure Coding mailing list (SC-L) SC-L@securecoding.org List information, subscriptions, etc - http://krvw.com/mailman/listinfo/sc-l List charter available at - http://www.securecoding.org/list/charter.php
