Defect report from : John Beck , Sun Microsystems
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@ page 820 line 31681-31683 section rm comment {JTB-1}
Problem:
Defect code : 3. Clarification required
An occasional user mistake, with devastating consequences, is to
write a shell script with a line such as:
rm -rf $VARIABLE1/$VARIABLE2
or
rm -rf /$VARIABLE1
without verifying that either variable is set, which can lead to
rm -rf /
being the resulting command. Since there is no plausible
circumstance under which this is the desired behavior, it seems
reasonable to disallow this. Such a safeguard would, however,
violate the current specification.
Action:
Either extend the exceptions for . and .. on the noted lines
to list / as well, or specify that the behavior of rm if an
operand resolves to / is undefined.
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