Re: Changes to the filesystem while find is running - comments?

[Alfred M. Szmidt]

   > Hmm.  The typical care we're considering is where root is running
   > "find" and an ordinary user is trying to persuade find to perform
   > an operation for him (e.g. delete a file which the user would not
   > ordinarily be able to delete).  This is not a root versus
   > ordinary user issue, it's a user-1 versus user-2 issue.
   > 
   > I would have assumed that security considerations would require
   > that although ordinary Hurd users can set up translators, the
   > translators they've set up would no appear in other users' views
   > of the filesystem.  If translators you've set up are invisible to
   > me when I'm running "find", they can't be used to compromise my
   > security, can they?

Translators aren't invisible to other users, they also run and start
as the owner/group of a file/directory node--to be exact, the
owner/group of the underlying node.  So since they are running with a
different permission set they can't compromise your security.

   > I'm afraid I'm not that familiar with Hurd, but ensuring that GNU
   > find works well on Hurd is obviously something that the FSF wants
   > to do.

   I'm forwarding this mail to bug-hurd, so that Hurd designers can
   clarify these issues.

Thanks.