The thread, and even older threads referenced there, is from 2007. Since then, the security field have evolved - now we have SeLinux, Apparmor and other techniques which are capable to provide even better security than umask(077) - I would say that ignoring shell's umask and enforcing our own may be actually harmful in above mentioned contexts.
Please don't take me wrong - I fully agree on default of 0600 for all created files (undoubtely mboxes). Yet even in my simple scenario (mutt got its own user profile) I need to be able to process stored attachments by other users (separate user for libreoffice, separate user for image viewer,...). Manually calling chmod *each and every time* is even more security-error-prone than being able to set umask once for time being. > We may even make this patch available only as by default disabled configure option, I can imagine something like --enable-umask-override. How does that differ from applying my patch manually? Simply one does not have to trust "random patch from the internet", but supported option available for users who know what/why they want. Regards, Martin On 20200728 0938, Will Yardley wrote: > On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 06:18:59PM +0200, [email protected] wrote: > > Thanks for replies, so what are the principal objections against such > > option? Im curious because you said it was discussed several times, > > which is clear indication of interest to have such a feature. > > Have you tried searching the archives / doing a web search for past > threads about this? > > e.g., > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]&q=subject:%22Re%5C%3A+C%5BPATCH%5C%5D+Add+%24umask+for+mailboxes+and+attachments%22&o=newest&f=1 > > If you look towards the end of this thread, it alludes to earlier > threads and some of the reasons. I'm sure you could find those > discussions as well if you spend a couple of minutes. > > I would guess that the objections mostly have to do with the security > risks of allowing people to override this setting. > > w >
signature.asc
Description: PGP signature
