[Bug 712614] Re: getty can't execute a login program with arguments

[Scott Moser]

Could you propose this patch upstream ?  It seems like something that is
generally useful and would be accepted.

I have two comments on the patch, though
1.) you did not use wordfree on the wordexp_t, i'm guessing just because this is a short lived program, but just for cleanliness, I'd think it would be good to add it.
2.) I could be missing something, but it looks to me like you will change the behavior of existing code.
   Previously, the command run would be:
     options.login -- logname
  And now, it appears to me that that would be just:
    options.login
  Shouldn't you append the '--'  'logname' somehow ?

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/712614

Title:
  getty can't execute a login program with arguments

Status in “util-linux” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: util-linux

  /sbin/getty can't run a login program if you pass arguments to the
  latter via the '-l' getty optional argument (e.g. in the tty config
  file).

  how to reproduce:
  update any tty config in /etc/init/ , e.g. tty6.conf:

  exec /sbin/getty -n -i -l '/bin/login -p -f root' -8 38400 tty6

  restart the terminal service: initcl restart tty4

  the following error will be logged:

  tty6: Can't exec /bin/login -p -f root: No such file or directory

  reason: getty is using execl() to execute the login program specified with '-l' option.
  fix: use execve(); patch included

  One should be able to pass login command arguments to getty. Using a
  wrapper to encapsulate login program arguments hides readability and
  adds complexity when not necessary.

  The attached patch does not alter in any way the existent getty functionality and usage. It just adds what's missing.
  The attached patch does not create any security concerns unless getty is explicitly configured in such a way.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10
  Package: util-linux 2.17.2-0ubuntu1.10.10.1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.35-25.44-generic 2.6.35.10
  Uname: Linux 2.6.35-25-generic x86_64
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia wl
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Thu Feb  3 18:27:12 2011
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release amd64 (20100427.1)
  ProcEnviron:
   LANGUAGE=en_US.utf8
   LANG=en_US.utf8
   LC_MESSAGES=en_US.utf8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: util-linux