True, but at least with modules with a SIGNATURE we have some vague notion of accountability.
Modules that download other code from third parties are when it gets scary for me.
The SIGNATURE is basically only used to verify there are no transmit errors. Using it for any form of verification or accountability only gives one a false sense of security, which is worse than no sense of security, IMO.
Modules that download other code from third parties are when it gets scary for me.
Any module that has a pre-requisite causes CPAN.pm to download more code, if you have configured CPAN to do so, or if you blindly say "yes" when it asks.

Let's face it - downloading code, any code, from CPAN is potentially dangerous. You're only safe if you have inspected the code yourself, and didn't make a mistake in your inspection. Of course, just inspecting the code you just downloaded doesn't make you safe. When was the first time you audited the source code of perl? How do you know that doesn't have a backdoor? What about your C compiler?

Abigail

In reply to Re: Blatant security problem in certain CPAN module installs by Abigail-II
in thread Blatant security problem in certain CPAN module installs by toma

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