Re: Suggestion for a new system call: convert file handle to a cookie for transfering file handles between processes.)

[Ingo Oeser <ingo.oeser@informatik.tu-chemnitz.de>]

On Mon, Jul 21, 2003 at 01:27:06PM -0400, Jan Harkes wrote:
> - Refcounting issues, a rogue application can quickle use up kernel
>   resources by requesting thousands of cookies, he isn't even limited by
>   per-process resource limits, as it is possible to open a file, grab a
>   cookie, and close the file. The only 'solution' you have is a timeout
>   on the cookie, possibly this could be extended by some scheme where
>   cookies are dropped more agressivly. But any such solution will either
>   not be sufficient to protect the system from resource exhaustion or
>   provide the opportunity for denial of service attacks.

Best of all: How big you make the number, doesn't matter: You can
always guess such numbers as a local attacker. If not now, then
in some years (want to recompile all existing applications then?).

cmsg(SCM_RIGHTS) is the much better solution, if you really have
processes, which are neither a sibling nor a parent/child
relationship.

And it's also ugly enough ;-)

Regards

Ingo Oeser