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authorStefan Kangas2019-10-24 01:08:20 +0200
committerStefan Kangas2019-10-24 01:08:20 +0200
commit61223a046c37d44f67e6600909439d32f8dd34f9 (patch)
tree282424b2d51c7e756719831b0e9e3d15c9736d85 /doc/misc
parent53e7a763dd16509d90418bdf14d161db13271ea3 (diff)
downloademacs-61223a046c37d44f67e6600909439d32f8dd34f9.tar.gz
emacs-61223a046c37d44f67e6600909439d32f8dd34f9.zip
Update FAQ section on Emacs security (Bug#37818)
* doc/misc/efaq.texi (Security risks with Emacs): Remove section on movemail. Add section on third-party packages.
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/misc')
-rw-r--r--doc/misc/efaq.texi23
1 files changed, 6 insertions, 17 deletions
diff --git a/doc/misc/efaq.texi b/doc/misc/efaq.texi
index b45db4c84fe..0b7b6d9c9f2 100644
--- a/doc/misc/efaq.texi
+++ b/doc/misc/efaq.texi
@@ -3207,23 +3207,12 @@ You can tell Emacs the shell's current directory with the command
3207@itemize @bullet 3207@itemize @bullet
3208 3208
3209@item 3209@item
3210The @file{movemail} incident. (No, this is not a risk.) 3210Third party packages.
3211 3211
3212In his book @cite{The Cuckoo's Egg}, Cliff Stoll describes this in 3212Any package you install into Emacs can run arbtitrary code with the
3213chapter 4. The site at LBL had installed the @file{/etc/movemail} 3213same privileges as the Emacs process itself. Be aware of this when
3214program setuid root. (As of version 19, @file{movemail} is in your 3214you use the package system (e.g. @code{M-x list-packages}) with third
3215architecture-specific directory; type @kbd{C-h v exec-directory 3215party archives. Use only third parties that you can trust!
3216@key{RET}} to see what it is.) Since @code{movemail} had not been
3217designed for this situation, a security hole was created and users could
3218get root privileges.
3219
3220@code{movemail} has since been changed so that this security hole will
3221not exist, even if it is installed setuid root. However,
3222@code{movemail} no longer needs to be installed setuid root, which
3223should eliminate this particular risk.
3224
3225We have heard unverified reports that the 1988 Internet worm took
3226advantage of this configuration problem.
3227 3216
3228@item 3217@item
3229The @code{file-local-variable} feature. (Yes, a risk, but easy to 3218The @code{file-local-variable} feature. (Yes, a risk, but easy to