GNU bug report logs - #52206
Bug: rm -rf /*/*

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Package: coreutils;

Reported by: Robert Swinford <robert.swinford <at> gmail.com>

Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2021 20:27:01 UTC

Severity: normal

Done: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>

Bug is archived. No further changes may be made.

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From: Robert Swinford <robert.swinford <at> gmail.com>
To: 52206 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#52206: Bug: rm -rf /*/*
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2021 13:58:32 -0600

TWIMC:

This seems like a bug: https://twitter.com/nixcraft/status/1465599844299411458

I was able to replicate the behavior in a container with coreutils version 8.30.

Interestingly, however, rm -rf // only does the following:

"root <at> test:~# rm -rf //
rm: it is dangerous to operate recursively on '//' (same as '/')
rm: use --no-preserve-root to override this failsafe"

I believe illumos has already solved this problem in a POSIX compliant fashion, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6XQUciI-Sc&t=4903s

Appreciate your attention to this bug!

--
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ROBERT SWINFORD
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robert.swinford <at> gmail.com
m: (405) 209-2339
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This bug report was last modified 3 years and 227 days ago.

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