Re: lynx-dev form options

[Nelson Henry Eric]

> My major concern is security.

Thank you, Mike.

> all the information to the internal handler.  Now, what if this was
> an anonymous site that doesn't want a lot of features turned on (ie,
> editors for sending mail, etc); and the user of the anonymous site
> somehow managed

I'll express my hope again that the -anonymous command line switch
would turn off completely the forms option menu code and force the old,
single-file .lynxrc (which can then be monitored) method.  There is a
draw back here in that both routines must be compiled into the binary,
but at least the same image can be used for both captive and privileged
users.  (Another possibility for Lynx lite :) Of course, if the old code
is not maintained and forgotten, there is the real danger that Mike
points out of future exploitation.

> In my skimming of recent articles, I've not seen any explicit
> discussion about the security of the form options code.  Perhaps I
> missed it.  There certainly needs to be some, especially with input
> from those who run lynx on anonymous servers.

Just no time these days.  Sorry.  Besides the form-based option, there
is the temporary file problem, and seemingly a problem with LYMail.c.
Definitely, people allowing execution of Lynx in a captive account
need the help of others on the list, possibly with better expertise
in pin-pointing weaknesses, to exercise the code in a non-privileged,
captive environment.

__Henry