Re: A security vulnerability in S8Forum

From: Steve Watt (steveat_private)
Date: Mon Jan 06 2003 - 19:20:01 PST

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    In article <20030105032650.16087.h011.c009.wmat_private> you write:
    [ snip ]
    >SOLUTION :
    >==========
    [ snip ]
    > if(!eregi("^[_a-z0-9-]+(\.[_a-z0-9-]+)*@[a-z0-9-]+(\.[a-z0-9-]+)*(\.[a-z]{2,3})$",
    >$email) &&  $email  != 
    >"") { 
    
    Please note that there are many more characters valid in the LHS of an
    email address, for example +, that are often desirable.  Disallowing
    such addresses is a major nuisance.  A beautiful example is the useful
    feature in sendmail that allows user+whateverat_private, which allows
    users to invent infinite variations on their email address for tracking
    spam database propagation.
    
    In this particular application, the error is more widespread than the
    fix you cite -- if you're going to allow random users to control file
    names on your system, you certainly shouldn't put the contents somewhere
    that a web server can directly find it.
    
    That bit of software seems to need a major review.
    
    -- 
    Steve Watt KD6GGD  PP-ASEL-IA          ICBM: 121W 56' 57.8" / 37N 20' 14.9"
     Internet: steve @ Watt.COM                         Whois: SW32
       Free time?  There's no such thing.  It just comes in varying prices...
    



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