*chortle*

>From the BugTraq list:

> From: Randal Schwartz <zreyla@FGBARURATR.PBZ>
> Subject:      Re: Smashing the Stack: prevention?
> To: OHTGEND@ARGFCNPR.BET

> >>>>> "nate" == nate  <angr@ZVYYPBZZ.PBZ> writes:

> 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: <zreyla@fgbaruratr.pbz> Snail: (Call) PGP-Key: (finger zreyla@ben.pbz)
> 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

--Nathan J. Mehl, The Left Bank Operation