GNU bug report logs - #20796
[PATCH] Document behavior of sed -i -

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Message #17 received at 20796 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Stanislav Brabec <sbrabec <at> suse.com>
To: Jim Meyering <jim <at> meyering.net>, sbrabec <at> suse.cz
Cc: 20796 <20796 <at> debbugs.gnu.org>
Subject: [PATCH] Keep special meaning of "-" even for "sed -i"
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2015 16:40:31 +0200

"sed -i -" does not fail, but it also does not do what one would expect.
It attempts to access file "./-" and edit it in place.

Keep special meaning of "-" even for "sed -i". It will cause failure,
which is what most people would expect:

sed: couldn't edit /dev/stdin: is a terminal

Note that the previous behavior could have security implications:
ln -s /etc/passwd -- -
echo root | sed -i --follow-symlinks s/root/parrot/ -

Signed-off-by: Stanislav Brabec <sbrabec <at> suse.com>
---
 sed/execute.c        |  2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/sed/execute.c b/sed/execute.c
index bfde525..2cba844 100644
--- a/sed/execute.c
+++ b/sed/execute.c
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@ open_next_file(const char *name, struct input *input)
   buffer.length = 0;
 
   input->in_file_name = name;
-  if (name[0] == '-' && name[1] == '\0' && !in_place_extension)
+  if (name[0] == '-' && name[1] == '\0')
     {
       clearerr(stdin);	/* clear any stale EOF indication */
 #if defined WIN32 || defined _WIN32 || defined __CYGWIN__ \
-- 
2.4.3

-- 
Best Regards / S pozdravem,

Stanislav Brabec
software developer
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