Public bug reported:
Binary package hint: sudo
sudo uses strftime() to generate the date string in the notification
mails sent to administrators when something fishy happens. strftime()
generates the date according to locale env vars. This could result in
date strings containing arbitrary characters in arbitrary charsets
(think UTF-8 in far eastern languages).
By default, email messages are us-ascii. sudo does no conversion of the
data returned by strftime (which is in the user's current charset) to
the default us-ascii charset. This causes non-ascii dates to come
through as garbage.
Solution:
1. stop using strftime. The code actually has the strftime code in a IFDEF,
remove that whole ifdef, and use ctime, which is ascii.
2. insert charset information into the notification email. add header
(Content-Type: text/plain; charset="<nl_langinfo(CODESET)>") and
(Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit).
downside of solution 2:
1. 8bit transfer encoding is required. 8bit is not strictly supported by SMTP,
although is supported by most MTA's, probably all MTA's in the Ubuntu repo.
2. Also, since the strftime uses the locale of the user, it could represent
the date in some language unreadable by the sysadmin (who receives the
notification, but does not necessarily read the same language as the user who
committed whatever offense). ctime() always represents the date in English
ASCII. I think we can safely assume the large majority of sysadmins out there
can read English ASCII?
I've attached a patch to only use ctime in notification emails and
logging. Since launch pad only allows one attachment at time of bug
creation, I'll try attach the other patch after I've submitted this.
Here's hoping I can do that.
** Affects: sudo (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
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Patch for incorrect charset in notification emails
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/491352
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