Bug#198312: long file name cause Segmentation fault [SECURITY]

["Anthraxz __" <bouloumag@hotmail.com>]

> From: Hilmar Preusse <hille42@web.de>
> To: Anthraxz __ <bouloumag@hotmail.com>, 198312@bugs.debian.org
> Subject: Re: Bug#198312: long file name cause Segmentation fault [SECURITY]
> Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2003 09:42:00 +0200
>
> On 21.06.03 Anthraxz __ (bouloumag@hotmail.com) wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> > pslatex does not handle correctly a long file name. This cause the
> > program to Segfault.
> >
> > # pslatex `perl -e 'print "ffffffffffffffff"x8086'`
> >
> At least on my box:
>
> drachi:[hille] >uname -a
> Linux drachi 2.4.21 #1 Sat Jun 14 00:38:32 CEST 2003 i686 unknown
>
> I can't touch a file with a filename of that length.
>
> drachi:[hille] >touch `perl -e 'print "ffffffffffffffff"x16'`.tex
> touch: creating `<big snip>.tex': File name too long
>
> In the moment I don't understand why do you want to call latex on a
> file, which can't exist. Maybe I missed your point...

My point is that when a program is executed with unsusal data (this is the 
case here), it should NEVER crash with a segmentation fault. The reason why 
you can't touch a file with that length is that the program touch test if 
the length of the string is too long. In this case, it display an error 
message and exit. If a program segfault when called with a very long file 
name, this may be a potential security risk for the system.

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