This is why I don't program while I'm tired. Path to the file was off.
Maybe this is a good place to add the comment that it's probably a good idea to tighten up the requirements for what you're going to allow as user input.

For example, you might do something like this: 


sub untaint_directory {
    # restrict directory names to a short list of accessible locations
    my $var = $_[0];
    my @allowed_locations = qw( political_babble 
                                funny_animal_stories 
                                down_with_starwars 
                                guests 
                                tests 
                                public );
    my $dir;
    my $ok = 0;
    if ( ($dir) = ($var =~ m/^(\w+)$/ )) { 
      foreach my $loc (@allowed_locations) { 
        if ($dir eq $loc) { 
           $ok = 1;
           last;
        }
      }
    } 
    unless ($ok) { 
      die("Not an allowed directory: $dir");
    }
    return $dir;
}

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The idea is that this is a security related task, and you should be as paranoid about it as you can. Do your best to restrict the input you're going to accept to things that you know are okay.

In reply to Is restricting to "words" good enough? by doom
in thread -T switch & untaint - how to resolve errors? by Stenyj

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