Password Protect a Perl Script

smart_amorist has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

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Re: Password Protect a Perl Script by atcroft (Abbot) on Oct 29, 2013 at 02:11 UTC
Unless someone posts a better idea, my suggestion would be to pull the critical information out of the script into a configuration file that is read by the script, then set the permissions on the file such that only the user the script is running as can read it (0500 under *nix, for example). You may also wish to store the configuration file in a directory location that is also unavailable to other users. An alternative might be to encrypt the configuration file, and decrypt it when it is read. This, however, runs into a similar issue as before, with the key having to be accessible to the script, and therefore anyone use who can read it. Hope that helps, and look forward to seeing the comments and suggestions of others to your query.	[reply]
Re^2: Password Protect a Perl Script by dsheroh (Monsignor) on Oct 29, 2013 at 09:09 UTC
Minor, nitpicky correction: The proper file mode (permissions) for the config file would be 0400, not 0500. There's generally no reason for configurations to be executable.	[reply]
Re: Password Protect a Perl Script by LanX (Saint) on Oct 29, 2013 at 02:07 UTC
> Is there any workaround to it? often asked, always denied. The perl-interpreter needs to read plain text, whichever en- and decryption you are doing, can be read by a man in the middle. > I came across a situation where we are hard coding some critical information in a Perl script. don't. Cheers Rolf ( addicted to the Perl Programming Language)	[reply]
Re^2: Password Protect a Perl Script by hdb (Monsignor) on Oct 29, 2013 at 07:20 UTC
One could compile one's own copy of Perl, modifying it in such a way that it decrypts encrypted scripts before doing its usual thing. With asymmetric encryption one could compile the private key into the executable. The command line `perl --key` would print the public key that one has to use to encrypt the scripts. Or even better, `perl --encrypt script.pl` would encrypt the script.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^3: Password Protect a Perl Script by MidLifeXis (Monsignor) on Oct 29, 2013 at 12:29 UTC
Just make sure to deny loading any of the optree dumper modules, things that rewind __DATA__, etc. There are many avenues for attacking this setup. At best, it raises the bar a bit. --MidLifeXis	[reply]
Re: Password Protect a Perl Script by Anonymous Monk on Oct 29, 2013 at 02:06 UTC
We can set password on a file using vi -x but when I am setting password on Perl script using vi -x, I am unable to execute the script as it is giving error. (because vi -x is adding some unknown characters to script) Is there any workaround to it? Um, you're confused. Once you encrypt the script with "vi -x" you have to decrypt it before you can run the program -- thats how encryption works Module::Crypt - Encrypt your Perl code and compile it into XS PAR::Filter::Crypto - Encrypt Perl files in PAR archives Module::CryptSource - Encrypt and Decrypt source for Binary Packagers Why is it bad to hide the source? How can I hide the source for my Perl program? Code Encryption .. How to ?? encrypting perl code used with mod_perl simple encryption for perl files	[reply]