nate> 2. 'hmm. what if you change the compiler?'
nate> C compilers could be modified to do bounds checking, and/or
nate> problem functions could be made to complain to the user at compile time.
Not surprisingly, as a next-gen language, Perl already had this stuff
built in. Arrays and other data structures are dynamically scalable.
And the "taint" dataflow checking (nothing *from* the outside world
could influence actions *to* the outside world without explicit
"cleansing") has been in there since Perl version 2 (1988). Perl 5
introduced the notion of running code in an arbitrary "Safe" box,
providing interfaces that mimic system functions. You could write a
setuid script that executes nearly everything insde the box, then
calls controlled "through the box wall" functions to perform I/O or
launch processes.
Yes, there was the CERT-able hole two years ago because Larry got an
#ifdef backwards on a platform he didn't have access to, and the
recent one where a *libc* routine couldn't handle the arbitrary-sized
data that Perl was handing it. We have efforts going on in the Perl
developer groups to stamp the rest of those out. (And yes, there are
apparently a few others. Durn libc. :-)
So, if you want to write a secure toy, and you want to write it in 1/3
to 1/5 the number of lines of code of C, and you want it to be secure,
just use Perl.
-- Name: Randal L. Schwartz / Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095 Keywords: Perl training, UNIX[tm] consulting, video production, skiing, flying Email: <merlyn@stonehenge.com> Snail: (Call) PGP-Key: (finger merlyn@ora.com) Web: <A HREF="http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/">My Home Page!</A> Quote: "I'm telling you, if I could have five lines in my .sig, I would!" -- me