Path: utzoo!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!oliveb!intelca!mipos3!pete
From: pete@escher.intel.com (Peter Johnson ~)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Interesting bug in csh
Summary: csh bug
Keywords: csh bug
Message-ID: <3737@mipos3.intel.com>
Date: 10 Mar 89 19:33:20 GMT
Sender: news@mipos3.intel.com
Reply-To: pete@escher.intel.com (Peter Johnson ~)
Organization: Intel Corporation
Lines: 23


I have recently come across a peculiar bug in csh and was wondering
if it posed any security problems.

If you try to use a : modifier on a environment variable, strange
things happen.  For example:

% echo $SHELL:t
/bin/csh:t
% echo ${SHELL:t}
Variable syntax.
% ls
/bin/cshls: Command not found

This bug appears in Ultrix 2.2, 3.0, SunOS 4.0, BSD 4.3, AIX, AUX.
The only system that I have used where it does not appear is UTS.
Of course UTS chokes on it as well, but in a different way.

-Pete Johnson
Peter Johnson

pete@smdvx1.intel.COM
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