perlpathtaintwcenv

Insecure $ENV{ENV} while running with -T switch


When I try the last example from perlfaq5: How-do-I-count-the-number-of-lines-in-a-file? I get an error-message. What should I do to get the script working?

#!/usr/local/bin/perl -T
use warnings;
use 5.012;

$ENV{PATH} = undef;

my $filename = 'perl2.pl';

if( $filename =~ /^([0-9a-z_.]+)\z/ ) {
    my $lines = `/usr/bin/wc -l $1`;
    print $lines;
}

Output:

Insecure $ENV{ENV} while running with -T switch at ./perl1.pl line 10.

Solution

  • 2nd Edition of Answer

    The perldoc perlsec manual describes taint mode (there is also perldoc Taint for a module related to Taint mode).

    In part, it illustrates:

    $path = $ENV{'PATH'};       # $path now tainted
    
    $ENV{'PATH'} = '/bin:/usr/bin';
    delete @ENV{'IFS', 'CDPATH', 'ENV', 'BASH_ENV'};
    
    $path = $ENV{'PATH'};       # $path now NOT tainted
    system "echo $data";        # Is secure now!
    

    After the $ENV{PATH} = undef; in your code, I was warned about CDPATH. So, adapting that code, I used (perl2.pl again):

    #!/usr/bin/env perl -T
    use warnings;
    use 5.012;
    
    delete @ENV{'PATH', 'IFS', 'CDPATH', 'ENV', 'BASH_ENV'};
    
    my $filename = 'perl2.pl';
    
    if ($filename =~ /^([0-9a-z_.]+)\z/)
    {
        my $lines = `/usr/bin/wc -l $1`;
        print $lines;
    }
    

    With the answer '13 perl2.pl' this time. This is far less draconian than the 1st Edition of the answer.

    1st Edition of Answer

    This draconian solution 'works':

    #!/usr/bin/env perl -T
    use warnings;
    use 5.012;
    
    foreach my $env (keys %ENV)
    {
        undef $ENV{$env};
    }
    
    my $filename = 'perl2.pl';
    
    if ($filename =~ /^([0-9a-z_.]+)\z/)
    {
        my $lines = `/usr/bin/wc -l $1`;
        print $lines;
    }
    

    If the script is called 'perl2.pl', then running perl -T perl2.pl yields the answer '16 perl2.pl' (if you don't have any trailing blank lines).

    I call it 'draconian' because I've unset every environment variable, piecemeal.