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Date:      Sat, 23 Aug 2008 10:15:59 +0200
From:      Ivan Voras <ivoras@freebsd.org>
To:        freebsd-arch@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Magic symlinks redux
Message-ID:  <g8oh02$988$1@ger.gmane.org>
In-Reply-To: <20080822161314.GE57443@lor.one-eyed-alien.net>
References:  <g8kv7v$sp2$1@ger.gmane.org>	<20080822150020.GA57443@lor.one-eyed-alien.net>	<9bbcef730808220802pa84b597u457100a23b03a80c@mail.gmail.com>	<20080822153945.GC57443@lor.one-eyed-alien.net>	<9bbcef730808220853q22666b44n5ca2b7add991191f@mail.gmail.com> <20080822161314.GE57443@lor.one-eyed-alien.net>

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Brooks Davis wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 05:53:58PM +0200, Ivan Voras wrote:

>> Your example with uid is solved just like in userland (though the
>> names are messed up) and reflect getuid() and geteuid().
>=20
> Small changes to the file system namespace can easily lead to security
> issues when applications assume the namespace is static.  This is
> particularly true for setuid binaries.
>=20
>> Anyway, if the DFBSD framework is properly implemented, it shouldn't
>> be hard to add these variables. If you don't want to, I volunteer.
>=20
> I'm not completely opposed to adding a static namespace for system
> wide variables.  I'm not at all keen on the @ruid and @uid variables
> because I think they are risky.  My current feeling is that I'd like to=

> move ahead with my current implementation and then either add another
> namespace or add this off to the side mostly as is.

Ok, how about adding another sysctl enabling ruid and uid (perhaps=20
change their name to uid and euid since NetBSD compatibility isn't=20
maintained) which will be off by default?

>> (I don't care about the syntax: @{something} vs ${something}, though I=

>> think NetBSD made the better choice since these variables are not
>> accessing the process environment).
>=20
> This is something I've been debating.  I've been leading toward somethi=
ng other
> than ${something}.  Either @{} or %{} or else going all the way to some=
thing
> like %%something%%. =20

Someone mentioned "@" clashes with AFS :(

 > I don't like the unanchored components netbsd uses.

They could have an use case - see below:

> One other option we discussed at the devsummit was requiring that the f=
irst
> character of a variant symlink be special to reduce parsing overhead.  =
I.e.
> requiring that variant symlinks start with @ or % or something.

I agree with this - it's elegant on the implementation side and=20
performance hit would be minimal. I'd also be happy with abandoning the=20
free form links and mandating that the entire component be one var=20
symlink (i.e. "/path1/@var/path2" is ok but "/path1/@{path2}.@{path3}"=20
isn't).

If you'd implement that special starting character, how would the=20
end-result look like? Something like "#path@{var}"? (for various values=20
of "#")?


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