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. userbinator · 1790122992 · focus · HN ↗

      there is no permissions scheme

      If you already have full access by design, then there's no "huge security hole" either.

      1. EvanAnderson · 1790123702 · focus · HN ↗

         Exactly. It's not a security hole. It's just the architecture of the program.

         It seems like many people have a hard time understanding this, including developers.

         Any attempt to add any kind of permissions, security, etc, without addressing the nature of the architecture (that the database engine runs in the same address space / security context as the UI) misses the point.

         1. Towaway69 · 1790147240 · focus · HN ↗

            Further along those lines, it was a different world when the code was created.

            Trust was a thing back then. Spam was something that came out of a tin and was made of dead animal. And passwords were limited to eight ASCII characters.

            And as such, bolting security onto something that was designed inherently to be security agnostic is going to be a recipe for failure.

            1. antonvs · 1790161512 · focus · HN ↗

               It had absolutely nothing to do with trust. People still worried about the security of their databases. Businesses understood perfectly well that their electronic records were just as sensitive as their paper ones. But the server closet had a lock on the door, and no wire connecting it to a global network of mostly scammers. It was just as secure as the paper records.

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