#!/usr/bin/perl 
$|++;

my @files = qw( /home/sauoq );
print "Content-type: application/x-tar\n\n";
system( "tar cvf - @files" );
[download]

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";

Yup. Don't do anything silly like system("tar cvf - $my_user_input_from_a_form");, unless you want to hand out tar files of your server's passwords, though.

andramoiennepemousapolutropon

This is very good advice and I was remiss in not noting such myself. That said, you should also know that, if you did so, you might risk a whole lot worse than the loss of your password file. It would permit a user to run any arbitrary command on your system with privileges the same as those that the cgi script runs with.

Know the risks, understand the issues, and use the -T option to help you catch dangerous code.

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
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