Re: [PATCH] iptables: improve chain name validation

[Phil Oester <kernel@linuxace.com>]

On Mon, Oct 07, 2013 at 04:14:47PM +0200, Jan Engelhardt wrote:
> IMO iptables-save should just put the chain name in quotes (calling 
> xtables_save_string) if there is a need to do so.

Example:
# iptables -N 'hog wash'
# iptables -A INPUT -j 'hog wash'
iptables v1.4.20: Invalid target name `hog wash'
Try `iptables -h' or 'iptables --help' for more information.

Code:
static const char *
parse_target(const char *targetname)
{
...
        for (ptr = targetname; *ptr; ptr++)
                if (isspace(*ptr))
                        xtables_error(PARAMETER_PROBLEM,
                                   "Invalid target name `%s'", targetname);

Conclusion:
It seems pointless to allow adding chains which cannot actually be used.

Phil