Re: Bug#193161: logcheck: Dangerous usage of /var/tmp ?
On Sun, Aug 17, 2003 at 03:51:07PM +0200, Josip Rodin wrote:
> On Sat, Aug 16, 2003 at 10:20:11PM -0400, Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> > mizar:[/usr/share/doc] sudo mkdir hello
> >
> > Even though the directory was created outside the packaging system, its
> > existing permissions and ownership are preserved. I don't think this
> > should happen.
>
> It's a perfectly normal thing -- sysadmins need to be able to change
> directories' permissions according to their local policy. It's reasonably
> safe for packages to assume that random users won't be able to write to
> /usr/share/doc. /var/tmp, OTOH, is not such a safe directory. Since the
> package installation process runs as root, the temporary directory should
> be created elsewhere.
Certainly, they need to be able to change them, and the packaging system
should provide a way for them to be preserved. But this is not a change;
it's a pre-existing directory created within dpkg's territory.
It seems at least inconsistent that dpkg will overwrite file permissions,
regardless of whether the existing file is under its control, while
directories are always preserved.
--
- mdz
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