Debian bug report logs - #563 tar -x fails to overwrite or check for symlinks Package: tar ; Reported by: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson); 242 days old . ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Message received at debian-bugs: From cus.cam.ac.uk!iwj10 Fri Mar 3 07:33:06 1995 Return-Path: Received: from pixar.com by mongo.pixar.com with smtp (Smail3.1.28.1 #15) id m0rkZLk-0005pqC; Fri, 3 Mar 95 07:33 PST Received: from bootes.cus.cam.ac.uk by pixar.com with SMTP id AA20800 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for ); Fri, 3 Mar 1995 07:32:46 -0800 Received: by bootes.cus.cam.ac.uk (Smail-3.1.29.0 #30) id m0rkYPp-000C0dC; Fri, 3 Mar 95 14:33 GMT Received: by chiark (Smail3.1.28.1 #3) id m0rkP9u-0002gOZ; Fri, 3 Mar 95 04:40 GMT Message-Id: Date: Fri, 3 Mar 95 04:40 GMT From: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson) To: Debian bugs submission address Subject: tar -x fails to overwrite or check for symlinks Package: tar Version: 1.11.2-1 (and others?) chiark:~/junk> rm a b chiark:~/junk> ln -s a b chiark:~/junk> ll a b /bin/ls: a: No such file or directory lrwxrwxrwx 1 ian ian 1 Mar 3 04:35 b -> a chiark:~/junk> tar vvcf t b lrwxrwxrwx ian/ian 0 Mar 3 04:35 1995 b -> a OK so far. chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t lrwxrwxrwx ian/ian 0 Mar 3 04:35 1995 b -> a tar: Could not create symlink to a : File exists Ooops. tar should have overwritten b (silently). chiark:~/junk> rm b chiark:~/junk> echo hi >b chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t lrwxrwxrwx ian/ian 0 Mar 3 04:35 1995 b -> a tar: Could not create symlink to a : File exists It can't overwrite a plain file with link. chiark:~/junk> ll a b /bin/ls: a: No such file or directory -rw-rw-r-- 1 ian ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 b chiark:~/junk> tar vvcf t b -rw-rw-r-- ian/ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 1995 b OK, put the file in the archive. chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t -rw-rw-r-- ian/ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 1995 b And we can extract it. chiark:~/junk> rm a b rm: a: No such file or directory chiark:~/junk> ln -s a b Make the link. chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t -rw-rw-r-- ian/ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 1995 b chiark:~/junk> ll a b -rw-rw-r-- 1 ian ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 a lrwxrwxrwx 1 ian ian 1 Mar 3 04:37 b -> a Now when we extract it follows the link ! Aargh ! This is horrible. chiark:~/junk> rm a b chiark:~/junk> Ian. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Message sent: From: iwj10@thor.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson) To: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson) Subject: Bug#563: Acknowledgement (was: tar -x fails to overwrite or check for symlinks) In-Reply-To: References: Thank you for the problem report you have sent regarding Debian GNU/Linux. This is an automatically generated reply, to let you know your message has been received. It is being forwarded to the developers' mailing list for their attention; they will reply in due course. If you wish to submit further information on your problem, please send it to debian-bugs@pixar.com, but please ensure that the Subject line of your message starts with "Bug#563" or "Re: Bug#563" so that we can identify it as relating to the same problem. Please do not to reply to the address at the top of this message, unless you wish to report a problem with the bug-tracking system. Ian Jackson (maintainer, debian-bugs) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Message sent to debian-devel@pixar.com: Subject: Bug#563: tar -x fails to overwrite or check for symlinks Reply-To: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson), debian-bugs@pixar.com Resent-To: debian-devel@pixar.com Resent-From: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson) Resent-Sender: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk Resent-Date: Fri, 03 Mar 1995 15:48:01 GMT Resent-Message-ID: X-Debian-PR-Package: tar X-Debian-PR-Keywords: Received: via spool for debian-bugs; Fri, 03 Mar 1995 15:48:01 GMT Received: with rfc822 via encapsulated-mail id 030315345717004; Fri, 03 Mar 1995 15:34:58 GMT Received: from pixar.com by mongo.pixar.com with smtp (Smail3.1.28.1 #15) id m0rkZLk-0005pqC; Fri, 3 Mar 95 07:33 PST Received: from bootes.cus.cam.ac.uk by pixar.com with SMTP id AA20800 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for ); Fri, 3 Mar 1995 07:32:46 -0800 Received: by bootes.cus.cam.ac.uk (Smail-3.1.29.0 #30) id m0rkYPp-000C0dC; Fri, 3 Mar 95 14:33 GMT Received: by chiark (Smail3.1.28.1 #3) id m0rkP9u-0002gOZ; Fri, 3 Mar 95 04:40 GMT Message-Id: Date: Fri, 3 Mar 95 04:40 GMT From: iwj10@cus.cam.ac.uk (Ian Jackson) To: Debian bugs submission address Package: tar Version: 1.11.2-1 (and others?) chiark:~/junk> rm a b chiark:~/junk> ln -s a b chiark:~/junk> ll a b /bin/ls: a: No such file or directory lrwxrwxrwx 1 ian ian 1 Mar 3 04:35 b -> a chiark:~/junk> tar vvcf t b lrwxrwxrwx ian/ian 0 Mar 3 04:35 1995 b -> a OK so far. chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t lrwxrwxrwx ian/ian 0 Mar 3 04:35 1995 b -> a tar: Could not create symlink to a : File exists Ooops. tar should have overwritten b (silently). chiark:~/junk> rm b chiark:~/junk> echo hi >b chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t lrwxrwxrwx ian/ian 0 Mar 3 04:35 1995 b -> a tar: Could not create symlink to a : File exists It can't overwrite a plain file with link. chiark:~/junk> ll a b /bin/ls: a: No such file or directory -rw-rw-r-- 1 ian ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 b chiark:~/junk> tar vvcf t b -rw-rw-r-- ian/ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 1995 b OK, put the file in the archive. chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t -rw-rw-r-- ian/ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 1995 b And we can extract it. chiark:~/junk> rm a b rm: a: No such file or directory chiark:~/junk> ln -s a b Make the link. chiark:~/junk> tar vvxf t -rw-rw-r-- ian/ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 1995 b chiark:~/junk> ll a b -rw-rw-r-- 1 ian ian 3 Mar 3 04:36 a lrwxrwxrwx 1 ian ian 1 Mar 3 04:37 b -> a Now when we extract it follows the link ! Aargh ! This is horrible. chiark:~/junk> rm a b chiark:~/junk> Ian. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ian Jackson / iwj10@thor.cam.ac.uk , with the debian-bugs tracking mechanism This page last modified 07:43:01 GMT Wed 01 Nov