Thread

1. mikestew · 1790117337 · focus · HN ↗

   Here’s my problem with reviving FoxPro in any form: there’s a huge security hole in the Database Container (DBC) design. For DBCs to be useful, they must be read/write to all users (there is no permissions scheme). DBCs have stored procedures that can run any FoxPro code, including Win32 calls made from the FoxPro runtime. The stored procedures are stored as plain text in a “memo” field. Do you see where this is going? With a little technical knowledge, one can modify that INSERT trigger to whatever you like. EDIT: as the DB is just files in the file system, modifications can be made using a text editor, bypassing any checks in the FoxPro runtime. FoxPro just executes what it finds in there.

   My recommendation is to get rid of the DBF/DBC files and move to a SQL DB of some flavor ASAP. If you have the source code, use ODBC or OLE DB to point to a server.

   Source: filed that bug over 20 years ago when I worked on the Fox team. No, it wasn’t going to get fixed without rewriting large parts of how the DB engine worked.

   1. EvanAnderson · 1790118506 · focus · HN ↗

      One of the Ohio Secretary of State's "certified" (wrong terminology, but you get the idea) voter registration databases used by various county Boards of Elections is written in VFP. The software maintains the list of voters, their addresses, and scans of signatures.

      Recently it had TOTP 'MFA' added to comply with a Secretary of State mandate.

      Anyone who uses the software can just open the database files directly. They're just DBF files in a shared folder on a file server. All the users have to have read/write access to the files or the application won't work.

      I hang my head.

      1. pbhjpbhj · 1790148810 · focus · HN ↗

         Sounds like it works as designed.

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