+.section "Running local commands" "SECTsecconslocalcmds"
+.cindex "security" "local commands"
+.cindex "security" "command injection attacks"
+There are a number of ways in which an administrator can configure Exim to run
+commands based upon received, untrustworthy, data. Further, in some
+configurations a user who can control a &_.forward_& file can also arrange to
+run commands. Configuration to check includes, but is not limited to:
+
+.ilist
+Use of &%use_shell%& in the pipe transport: various forms of shell command
+injection may be possible with this option present. It is dangerous and should
+be used only with considerable caution. Consider constraints which whitelist
+allowed characters in a variable which is to be used in a pipe transport that
+has &%use_shell%& enabled.
+.next
+A number of options such as &%forbid_filter_run%&, &%forbid_filter_perl%&,
+&%forbid_filter_dlfunc%& and so forth which restrict facilities available to
+&_.forward_& files in a redirect router. If Exim is running on a central mail
+hub to which ordinary users do not have shell access, but home directories are
+NFS mounted (for instance) then administrators should review the list of these
+forbid options available, and should bear in mind that the options that may
+need forbidding can change as new features are added between releases.
+.next
+The &%${run...}%& expansion item does not use a shell by default, but
+administrators can configure use of &_/bin/sh_& as part of the command.
+Such invocations should be viewed with prejudicial suspicion.
+.next
+Administrators who use embedded Perl are advised to explore how Perl's
+taint checking might apply to their usage.
+.next
+Use of &%${expand...}%& is somewhat analagous to shell's eval builtin and
+administrators are well advised to view its use with suspicion, in case (for
+instance) it allows a local-part to contain embedded Exim directives.
+.next
+Use of &%${match_local_part...}%& and friends becomes more dangerous if
+Exim was built with EXPAND_LISTMATCH_RHS defined: the second string in
+each can reference arbitrary lists and files, rather than just being a list
+of opaque strings.
+The EXPAND_LISTMATCH_RHS option was added and set false by default because of
+real-world security vulnerabilities caused by its use with untrustworthy data
+injected in, for SQL injection attacks.
+Consider the use of the &%inlisti%& expansion condition instead.
+.endlist
+
+
+
+
+.section "Trust in configuration data" "SECTsecconfdata"
+.cindex "security" "data sources"
+.cindex "security" "regular expressions"
+.cindex "regular expressions" "security"
+.cindex "PCRE" "security"
+If configuration data for Exim can come from untrustworthy sources, there
+are some issues to be aware of:
+
+.ilist
+Use of &%${expand...}%& may provide a path for shell injection attacks.
+.next
+Letting untrusted data provide a regular expression is unwise.
+.next
+Using &%${match...}%& to apply a fixed regular expression against untrusted
+data may result in pathological behaviour within PCRE. Be aware of what
+"backtracking" means and consider options for being more strict with a regular
+expression. Avenues to explore include limiting what can match (avoiding &`.`&
+when &`[a-z0-9]`& or other character class will do), use of atomic grouping and
+possessive quantifiers or just not using regular expressions against untrusted
+data.
+.next
+It can be important to correctly use &%${quote:...}%&,
+&%${quote_local_part:...}%& and &%${quote_%&<&'lookup-type'&>&%:...}%& expansion
+items to ensure that data is correctly constructed.
+.next
+Some lookups might return multiple results, even though normal usage is only
+expected to yield one result.
+.endlist
+
+
+
+
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