openssh bugs - Apr 2007 - [Bug 1302] scp failes to copy a file with newline

http://bugzilla.mindrot.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1302

           Summary: scp failes to copy a file with newline
           Product: Portable OpenSSH
           Version: 4.3p2
          Platform: ix86
        OS/Version: Linux
            Status: NEW
          Severity: minor
          Priority: P2
         Component: scp
        AssignedTo: bitbucket at mindrot.org
        ReportedBy: zdenek at pytela.net


When copying a directory (scp -r) with a file containing \n
copying stops with cryptic message
protocol error: expected control record
Debug mode is more verbose about the cause:

Sink: : skipping, filename contains a newline
protocol error: expected control record
debug1: client_input_channel_req: channel 0 rtype exit-status reply 0
debug1: channel 0: free: client-session, nchannels 1
debug1: fd 0 clearing O_NONBLOCK
debug1: fd 1 clearing O_NONBLOCK
...
debug1: Exit status 1

First, newline is legal (although weird) character for a file. Second,
the message doesn't help to user find what happened. Third, the copying
is not skipping one file, but stops at all.




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http://bugzilla.mindrot.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1302





------- Comment #1 from dtucker at zip.com.au  2007-04-04 21:26 -------
This is basically an unfixable limitation of the scp protocol.  The
header pretty much just "filename size modes\n" and when the filename
has a newline in it the protocol breaks.

You could escape the newlines (which I think I have a patch for
somewhere) but then the complaint becomes "scp changed my filename".

About the best that could be done is to bail or skip the file with a
"don't do that, then" error when someone tries to copy a file with
a
newline embedded in the name.




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