Re: small c problem

[Russell Coker <russell@coker.com.au>]

On Thu, 08 Jul 1999, Falk Hueffner wrote:
>Jeff Licquia <jeff@luci.org> writes:
>> Please accomodate this paranoid, if you would...
>> 
>> snprintf() is better than sprintf(), both for reliability and for
>> security reasons.  snprintf() takes a length parameter, and will not
>> fill the buffer past its end.  Using sprintf() (and strcat() for that
>> matter, and all manner of other string functions) in setuid and
>> root-owned processes is the #1 cause of security problems under both
>> Unix and NT.
>> 
>> Yes, this use of sprintf() is likely OK, since you control the one
>> variable used.  And perhaps this won't be root-owned or setuid in
>> normal circumstances.  Still, it's a good habit to get into.
>
>Unfortunately, snprintf is a GNU extension and not generally available
>on other Unixen. So I wouldn't use it without shipping the function
>with the source (some projects do this).

MS Visual C++ has it...

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