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Re: [PATCH v2 4/4] sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed through

From
Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
Date
Jan 9, 2026, 12:38 UTC
Message-ID
<aWD2x154F5f-c3pL@pks.im>
In-Reply-To
<fe109cd3319a5e3a1d1982a53963a601bb62b81f.1765981422.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
On Wed, Dec 17, 2025 at 02:23:42PM +0000, Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget wrote:
Show 15 quoted lines
> From: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
> 
> Even though control sequences that erase characters are quite juicy for
> attack scenarios, where attackers are eager to hide traces of suspicious
> activities, during the review of the side band sanitizing patch series
> concerns were raised that there might be some legimitate scenarios where
> Git server's `pre-receive` hooks use those sequences in a benign way.
> 
> Control sequences to move the cursor can likewise be used to hide tracks
> by overwriting characters, and have been equally pointed out as having
> legitimate users.
> 
> Let's add options to let users opt into passing through those ANSI
> Escape sequences: `sideband.allowControlCharacters` now supports also
> `cursor` and `erase`, and it parses the value as a comma-separated list.

Hm, okay. I don't really see much of a reason to allow these, but now that the code exists already I don't see a reason why we should remove those options again.

Show 15 quoted lines
> diff --git a/sideband.c b/sideband.c
> index fb43008ab7..725e24db0d 100644
> --- a/sideband.c
> +++ b/sideband.c
> @@ -28,9 +28,43 @@ static struct keyword_entry keywords[] = {
>  static enum {
>  	ALLOW_NO_CONTROL_CHARACTERS = 0,
>  	ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES = 1<<0,
> +	ALLOW_ANSI_CURSOR_MOVEMENTS = 1<<1,
> +	ALLOW_ANSI_ERASE = 1<<2,
>  	ALLOW_DEFAULT_ANSI_SEQUENCES = ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES,
> -	ALLOW_ALL_CONTROL_CHARACTERS = 1<<1,
> -} allow_control_characters = ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES;
> +	ALLOW_ALL_CONTROL_CHARACTERS = 1<<3,
> +} allow_control_characters = ALLOW_DEFAULT_ANSI_SEQUENCES;

Nit, not worth addressing on its own: readability would be helped a bit if the assignments were all aligned.

        static enum {
                ALLOW_NO_CONTROL_CHARACTERS  = 0,
                ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES   = 1<<0,
                ALLOW_ANSI_CURSOR_MOVEMENTS  = 1<<1,
                ALLOW_ANSI_ERASE             = 1<<2,
                ALLOW_DEFAULT_ANSI_SEQUENCES = ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES,
                ALLOW_ALL_CONTROL_CHARACTERS = 1<<3,
        } allow_control_characters = ALLOW_DEFAULT_ANSI_SEQUENCES;
Show 26 quoted lines
> +static inline int skip_prefix_in_csv(const char *value, const char *prefix,
> +				     const char **out)
> +{
> +	if (!skip_prefix(value, prefix, &value) ||
> +	    (*value && *value != ','))
> +		return 0;
> +	*out = value + !!*value;
> +	return 1;
> +}
> +
> +static void parse_allow_control_characters(const char *value)
> +{
> +	allow_control_characters = ALLOW_NO_CONTROL_CHARACTERS;
> +	while (*value) {
> +		if (skip_prefix_in_csv(value, "default", &value))
> +			allow_control_characters |= ALLOW_DEFAULT_ANSI_SEQUENCES;
> +		else if (skip_prefix_in_csv(value, "color", &value))
> +			allow_control_characters |= ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES;
> +		else if (skip_prefix_in_csv(value, "cursor", &value))
> +			allow_control_characters |= ALLOW_ANSI_CURSOR_MOVEMENTS;
> +		else if (skip_prefix_in_csv(value, "erase", &value))
> +			allow_control_characters |= ALLOW_ANSI_ERASE;
> +		else if (skip_prefix_in_csv(value, "true", &value))
> +			allow_control_characters = ALLOW_ALL_CONTROL_CHARACTERS;
> +		else if (skip_prefix_in_csv(value, "false", &value))
> +			allow_control_characters = ALLOW_NO_CONTROL_CHARACTERS;

Does it really make sense to also handle "true" and "false" here? I would expect that those values can only be passed standalone.

Show 5 quoted lines
> +		else
> +			warning(_("unrecognized value for `sideband."
> +				  "allowControlCharacters`: '%s'"), value);
> +	}
> +}

This could be simplified if we used e.g. `string_list_split()`. But on the other hand it avoids allocations, so that's a nice benefit.

Patrick
Previous: Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadgetNext: brian m. carlson
Message 32 of 86 in “Sanitize sideband channel messages”
  1. 0/3 Sanitize sideband channel messagesJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 14, 2025
  2. 1/3 sideband: mask control charactersJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 14, 2025
  3. Phillip WoodJan 15, 2025
  4. Johannes SchindelinDec 2, 2025
  5. Andreas SchwabJan 15, 2025
  6. Junio C HamanoJan 15, 2025
  7. 2/3 sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow control charactersJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 14, 2025
  8. 3/3 sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by defaultJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 14, 2025
  9. brian m. carlsonJan 14, 2025
  10. Junio C HamanoJan 16, 2025
  11. Ondrej PohorelskyJan 28, 2025
  12. Junio C HamanoJan 31, 2025
  13. Johannes SchindelinDec 2, 2025
  14. brian m. carlsonDec 3, 2025
  15. Johannes SchindelinDec 3, 2025
  16. Phillip WoodJan 15, 2025
  17. Johannes SchindelinDec 2, 2025
  18. 0/4 Sanitize sideband channel messagesJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  19. 1/4 sideband: mask control charactersJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  20. Patrick SteinhardtJan 9, 2026
  21. Johannes SchindelinJan 16, 2026
  22. 2/4 sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow control charactersJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  23. Junio C HamanoDec 18, 2025
  24. Johannes SchindelinDec 18, 2025
  25. Junio C HamanoDec 19, 2025
  26. Johannes SchindelinJan 16, 2026
  27. Patrick SteinhardtJan 9, 2026
  28. 3/4 sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by defaultJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  29. Patrick SteinhardtJan 9, 2026
  30. Johannes SchindelinJan 16, 2026
  31. 4/4 sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed throughJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Dec 17, 2025
  32. Patrick SteinhardtJan 9, 2026
  33. brian m. carlsonJan 10, 2026
  34. Jeff KingJan 15, 2026
  35. Junio C HamanoJan 15, 2026
  36. Johannes SchindelinJan 15, 2026
  37. Patrick SteinhardtJan 16, 2026
  38. Ondrej PohorelskyJan 16, 2026
  39. Junio C HamanoJan 16, 2026
  40. Johannes SchindelinJan 16, 2026
  41. Junio C HamanoJan 16, 2026
  42. Patrick SteinhardtJan 19, 2026
  43. brian m. carlsonJan 19, 2026
  44. D. Ben KnobleJan 20, 2026
  45. Junio C HamanoJan 20, 2026
  46. Jeff KingJan 20, 2026
  47. Junio C HamanoJan 20, 2026
  48. Patrick SteinhardtJan 21, 2026
  49. Johannes SchindelinJan 22, 2026
  50. Junio C HamanoJan 22, 2026
  51. brian m. carlsonJan 15, 2026
  52. Junio C HamanoFeb 3, 2026
  53. Johannes SchindelinFeb 3, 2026
  54. Junio C HamanoFeb 3, 2026
  55. Junio C HamanoFeb 4, 2026
  56. Johannes SchindelinJan 16, 2026
  57. 0/5 Sanitize sideband channel messagesJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 16, 2026
  58. 1/5 sideband: mask control charactersJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 16, 2026
  59. 2/5 sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow control charactersJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 16, 2026
  60. 3/5 sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by defaultJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 16, 2026
  61. 4/5 sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed throughJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 16, 2026
  62. 5/5 sideband: offer to configure sanitizing on a per-URL basisJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Jan 16, 2026
  63. Johannes SchindelinJan 16, 2026
  64. 0/6 Sanitize sideband channel messagesJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Feb 3, 2026
  65. 1/6 sideband: mask control charactersJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Feb 3, 2026
  66. 2/6 sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow control charactersJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Feb 3, 2026
  67. 3/6 sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by defaultJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Feb 3, 2026
  68. 4/6 sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed throughJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Feb 3, 2026
  69. 5/6 sideband: offer to configure sanitizing on a per-URL basisJohannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Feb 3, 2026
  70. 6/6 sideband: delay sanitizing by default to Git v3.0Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget, Feb 3, 2026
  71. Junio C HamanoFeb 4, 2026
  72. Junio C HamanoFeb 5, 2026
  73. Junio C HamanoFeb 13, 2026
  74. 0/3 Sanitizing sideband outputJunio C Hamano, Mar 2, 2026
  75. 1/3 sideband: drop 'default' configurationJunio C Hamano, Mar 2, 2026
  76. 2/3 sideband: delay sanitizing by default to Git v3.0Junio C Hamano, Mar 2, 2026
  77. 3/3 sideband: conditional documentation fixJunio C Hamano, Mar 2, 2026
  78. 0/7 Sanitizing sideband outputJunio C Hamano, Mar 5, 2026
  79. 1/7 sideband: mask control charactersJunio C Hamano, Mar 5, 2026
  80. 2/7 sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow control charactersJunio C Hamano, Mar 5, 2026
  81. 3/7 sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by defaultJunio C Hamano, Mar 5, 2026
  82. 4/7 sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed throughJunio C Hamano, Mar 5, 2026
  83. 5/7 sideband: offer to configure sanitizing on a per-URL basisJunio C Hamano, Mar 5, 2026
  84. 6/7 sideband: drop 'default' configurationJunio C Hamano, Mar 5, 2026
  85. 7/7 sideband: delay sanitizing by default to Git v3.0Junio C Hamano, Mar 5, 2026
  86. Shipping 2.55 with stricter "neuter sideband" topicJunio C Hamano, Jun 11, 2026

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