Public bug reported:
deluser --backup --remove-home (or --remove-all-files) USER
aborts if it encounters certain file names, for example the ubiquitous
'C:\nppdf32Log\debuglog.txt' left in Linux home directories by Firefox.
The root cause is that 'tar' helpfully "interprets escape sequences" in
its filename arguments, so file names containing a backslash followed by
'n' are changed to contain a newline character, and other similar cases.
The tar --no-unquote option prevents this. So 'deluser' should pass
--no-unquote to 'tar' when creating the backup archive.
I'll attach a demo/regression-test script, but in brief:
STEPS TO REPRODUCE:
1. touch '/home/testuser/C:\nppdf32Log\debuglog.txt'
2. deluser --backup --remove-home testuser
RESULTS:
/bin/tar: /home/.../C\:\nppdf32Log\\debuglog.txt: Cannot stat: No such file or
directory
(deluser aborts without doing anything except creating an empty archive file)
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 17.10
Package: adduser 3.113+nmu3ubuntu5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.13.0-19.22-generic 4.13.13
Uname: Linux 4.13.0-19-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.7-0ubuntu3.6
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Sun Dec 17 15:20:16 2017
InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-12-13 (4 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 17.10 "Artful Aardvark" - Release amd64 (20171018)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: adduser
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
** Affects: adduser (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
** Tags: amd64 apport-bug artful
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1738673
Title:
deluser --backup fails because tar --no-unquote option should be used
Status in adduser package in Ubuntu:
New
Bug description:
deluser --backup --remove-home (or --remove-all-files) USER
aborts if it encounters certain file names, for example the ubiquitous
'C:\nppdf32Log\debuglog.txt' left in Linux home directories by Firefox.
The root cause is that 'tar' helpfully "interprets escape sequences"
in its filename arguments, so file names containing a backslash
followed by 'n' are changed to contain a newline character, and other
similar cases.
The tar --no-unquote option prevents this. So 'deluser' should pass
--no-unquote to 'tar' when creating the backup archive.
I'll attach a demo/regression-test script, but in brief:
STEPS TO REPRODUCE:
1. touch '/home/testuser/C:\nppdf32Log\debuglog.txt'
2. deluser --backup --remove-home testuser
RESULTS:
/bin/tar: /home/.../C\:\nppdf32Log\\debuglog.txt: Cannot stat: No such file
or directory
(deluser aborts without doing anything except creating an empty archive file)
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 17.10
Package: adduser 3.113+nmu3ubuntu5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.13.0-19.22-generic 4.13.13
Uname: Linux 4.13.0-19-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.7-0ubuntu3.6
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Sun Dec 17 15:20:16 2017
InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-12-13 (4 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 17.10 "Artful Aardvark" - Release amd64 (20171018)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: adduser
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
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