Re: [oss-security] [patch] proc.5: tell how to parse /proc/*/stat correctly

From: Shawn Webb
Date: Wed Dec 28 2022 - 10:25:12 EST


On Tue, Dec 27, 2022 at 04:44:49PM -0800, Lyndon Nerenberg (VE7TFX/VE6BBM) wrote:
> Dominique Martinet writes:
>
> > But, really, I just don't see how this can practically be said to be parsable...
>
> In its current form it never will be. The solution is to place
> this variable-length field last. Then you can "cut -d ' ' -f 51-"
> to get the command+args part (assuming I counted all those fields
> correctly ...)
>
> Of course, this breaks backwards compatability.

It would also break forwards compatibility in the case new fields
needed to be added.

The only solution would be a libxo-style feature wherein a
machine-parseable format is exposed by virtue of a file extension.

Examples:

1. /proc/pid/stats.json
2. /proc/pid/stats.xml
3. /proc/pid/stats.yaml_shouldnt_be_a_thing

Thanks,

--
Shawn Webb
Cofounder / Security Engineer
HardenedBSD

https://git.hardenedbsd.org/hardenedbsd/pubkeys/-/raw/master/Shawn_Webb/03A4CBEBB82EA5A67D9F3853FF2E67A277F8E1FA.pub.asc

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