http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=735082


in reply to Re^2: One true regexp for untainting windows filenames?
in thread One true regexp for untainting windows filenames?

I use untaint_path() to check several filenames not just $^X.

To make them safe for what? Most most applications, untaint_path might remove the taint flag, but it doesn't make sure they're safe first.

On that topic, I am using the value of $^X in a qx// call. On Linux at least, if I don't untaint it, I get a nastygram about "insecure dependency." Should perl be a little smarter here?

In unix systems, it's possible to execute a binary at one path while making it think it's at a different path.

$ cat > a.c #include <stdio.h> int main(int argc, char** argv) { printf("%s\n", argv[0]); return 0; } $ gcc -o a a.c $ perl -e'exec { "a" } "evil"' evil

Based on a comment in $^X, it looks like there's a way for processes to find out which binary is actually being executed on some systems, and Perl uses it.

If the following doesn't print "evil" on your system, $^X can probably be trusted on your system.

$ perl -e'system { "perl" } "evil", "-le", "print \$^X"' /usr/bin/perl