public inbox for git@vger.kernel.org
 help / color / mirror / Atom feed
From: "Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
To: git@vger.kernel.org
Cc: "brian m. carlson" <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>,
	Phillip Wood <phillip.wood123@gmail.com>,
	Andreas Schwab <schwab@linux-m68k.org>,
	Ondrej Pohorelsky <opohorel@redhat.com>,
	Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>, Jeff King <peff@peff.net>,
	"D. Ben Knoble" <ben.knoble@gmail.com>,
	Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>,
	Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Subject: [PATCH v4 4/6] sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed through
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2026 10:18:00 +0000	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <ec48f1cba199d5ca466ad26cecfc4dfeb422fdf8.1770113882.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <pull.1853.v4.git.1770113882.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

From: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>

Even though control sequences that erase characters are quite juicy for
attack scenarios, where attackers are eager to hide traces of suspicious
activities, during the review of the side band sanitizing patch series
concerns were raised that there might be some legimitate scenarios where
Git server's `pre-receive` hooks use those sequences in a benign way.

Control sequences to move the cursor can likewise be used to hide tracks
by overwriting characters, and have been equally pointed out as having
legitimate users.

Let's add options to let users opt into passing through those ANSI
Escape sequences: `sideband.allowControlCharacters` now supports also
`cursor` and `erase`, and it parses the value as a comma-separated list.

Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
---
 Documentation/config/sideband.adoc  |  9 ++-
 sideband.c                          | 91 ++++++++++++++++++++++++-----
 t/t5409-colorize-remote-messages.sh | 38 ++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 123 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/config/sideband.adoc b/Documentation/config/sideband.adoc
index b55c73726f..2bf0426284 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/sideband.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/config/sideband.adoc
@@ -2,13 +2,20 @@ sideband.allowControlCharacters::
 	By default, control characters that are delivered via the sideband
 	are masked, except ANSI color sequences. This prevents potentially
 	unwanted ANSI escape sequences from being sent to the terminal. Use
-	this config setting to override this behavior:
+	this config setting to override this behavior (the value can be
+	a comma-separated list of the following keywords):
 +
 --
 	`default`::
 	`color`::
 		Allow ANSI color sequences, line feeds and horizontal tabs,
 		but mask all other control characters. This is the default.
+	`cursor:`:
+		Allow control sequences that move the cursor. This is
+		disabled by default.
+	`erase`::
+		Allow control sequences that erase charactrs. This is
+		disabled by default.
 	`false`::
 		Mask all control characters other than line feeds and
 		horizontal tabs.
diff --git a/sideband.c b/sideband.c
index eeba6fa2ca..0b420ca319 100644
--- a/sideband.c
+++ b/sideband.c
@@ -29,9 +29,43 @@ static struct keyword_entry keywords[] = {
 static enum {
 	ALLOW_NO_CONTROL_CHARACTERS  = 0,
 	ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES   = 1<<0,
+	ALLOW_ANSI_CURSOR_MOVEMENTS  = 1<<1,
+	ALLOW_ANSI_ERASE             = 1<<2,
 	ALLOW_DEFAULT_ANSI_SEQUENCES = ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES,
-	ALLOW_ALL_CONTROL_CHARACTERS = 1<<1,
-} allow_control_characters = ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES;
+	ALLOW_ALL_CONTROL_CHARACTERS = 1<<3,
+} allow_control_characters = ALLOW_DEFAULT_ANSI_SEQUENCES;
+
+static inline int skip_prefix_in_csv(const char *value, const char *prefix,
+				     const char **out)
+{
+	if (!skip_prefix(value, prefix, &value) ||
+	    (*value && *value != ','))
+		return 0;
+	*out = value + !!*value;
+	return 1;
+}
+
+static void parse_allow_control_characters(const char *value)
+{
+	allow_control_characters = ALLOW_NO_CONTROL_CHARACTERS;
+	while (*value) {
+		if (skip_prefix_in_csv(value, "default", &value))
+			allow_control_characters |= ALLOW_DEFAULT_ANSI_SEQUENCES;
+		else if (skip_prefix_in_csv(value, "color", &value))
+			allow_control_characters |= ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES;
+		else if (skip_prefix_in_csv(value, "cursor", &value))
+			allow_control_characters |= ALLOW_ANSI_CURSOR_MOVEMENTS;
+		else if (skip_prefix_in_csv(value, "erase", &value))
+			allow_control_characters |= ALLOW_ANSI_ERASE;
+		else if (skip_prefix_in_csv(value, "true", &value))
+			allow_control_characters = ALLOW_ALL_CONTROL_CHARACTERS;
+		else if (skip_prefix_in_csv(value, "false", &value))
+			allow_control_characters = ALLOW_NO_CONTROL_CHARACTERS;
+		else
+			warning(_("unrecognized value for `sideband."
+				  "allowControlCharacters`: '%s'"), value);
+	}
+}
 
 /* Returns a color setting (GIT_COLOR_NEVER, etc). */
 static enum git_colorbool use_sideband_colors(void)
@@ -55,13 +89,8 @@ static enum git_colorbool use_sideband_colors(void)
 		if (repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, "sideband.allowcontrolcharacters",
 					      &value))
 			; /* huh? `get_maybe_bool()` returned -1 */
-		else if (!strcmp(value, "default"))
-			allow_control_characters = ALLOW_DEFAULT_ANSI_SEQUENCES;
-		else if (!strcmp(value, "color"))
-			allow_control_characters = ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES;
 		else
-			warning(_("unrecognized value for `sideband."
-				  "allowControlCharacters`: '%s'"), value);
+			parse_allow_control_characters(value);
 		break;
 	default:
 		break; /* not configured */
@@ -94,7 +123,7 @@ void list_config_color_sideband_slots(struct string_list *list, const char *pref
 		list_config_item(list, prefix, keywords[i].keyword);
 }
 
-static int handle_ansi_color_sequence(struct strbuf *dest, const char *src, int n)
+static int handle_ansi_sequence(struct strbuf *dest, const char *src, int n)
 {
 	int i;
 
@@ -106,14 +135,47 @@ static int handle_ansi_color_sequence(struct strbuf *dest, const char *src, int
 	 * These are part of the Select Graphic Rendition sequences which
 	 * contain more than just color sequences, for more details see
 	 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code#SGR.
+	 *
+	 * The cursor movement sequences are:
+	 *
+	 * ESC [ n A - Cursor up n lines (CUU)
+	 * ESC [ n B - Cursor down n lines (CUD)
+	 * ESC [ n C - Cursor forward n columns (CUF)
+	 * ESC [ n D - Cursor back n columns (CUB)
+	 * ESC [ n E - Cursor next line, beginning (CNL)
+	 * ESC [ n F - Cursor previous line, beginning (CPL)
+	 * ESC [ n G - Cursor to column n (CHA)
+	 * ESC [ n ; m H - Cursor position (row n, col m) (CUP)
+	 * ESC [ n ; m f - Same as H (HVP)
+	 *
+	 * The sequences to erase characters are:
+	 *
+	 *
+	 * ESC [ 0 J - Clear from cursor to end of screen (ED)
+	 * ESC [ 1 J - Clear from cursor to beginning of screen (ED)
+	 * ESC [ 2 J - Clear entire screen (ED)
+	 * ESC [ 3 J - Clear entire screen + scrollback (ED) - xterm extension
+	 * ESC [ 0 K - Clear from cursor to end of line (EL)
+	 * ESC [ 1 K - Clear from cursor to beginning of line (EL)
+	 * ESC [ 2 K - Clear entire line (EL)
+	 * ESC [ n M - Delete n lines (DL)
+	 * ESC [ n P - Delete n characters (DCH)
+	 * ESC [ n X - Erase n characters (ECH)
+	 *
+	 * For a comprehensive list of common ANSI Escape sequences, see
+	 * https://www.xfree86.org/current/ctlseqs.html
 	 */
 
-	if (allow_control_characters != ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES ||
-	    n < 3 || src[0] != '\x1b' || src[1] != '[')
+	if (n < 3 || src[0] != '\x1b' || src[1] != '[')
 		return 0;
 
 	for (i = 2; i < n; i++) {
-		if (src[i] == 'm') {
+		if (((allow_control_characters & ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES) &&
+		     src[i] == 'm') ||
+		    ((allow_control_characters & ALLOW_ANSI_CURSOR_MOVEMENTS) &&
+		     strchr("ABCDEFGHf", src[i])) ||
+		    ((allow_control_characters & ALLOW_ANSI_ERASE) &&
+		     strchr("JKMPX", src[i]))) {
 			strbuf_add(dest, src, i + 1);
 			return i;
 		}
@@ -128,7 +190,7 @@ static void strbuf_add_sanitized(struct strbuf *dest, const char *src, int n)
 {
 	int i;
 
-	if (allow_control_characters == ALLOW_ALL_CONTROL_CHARACTERS) {
+	if ((allow_control_characters & ALLOW_ALL_CONTROL_CHARACTERS)) {
 		strbuf_add(dest, src, n);
 		return;
 	}
@@ -137,7 +199,8 @@ static void strbuf_add_sanitized(struct strbuf *dest, const char *src, int n)
 	for (; n && *src; src++, n--) {
 		if (!iscntrl(*src) || *src == '\t' || *src == '\n') {
 			strbuf_addch(dest, *src);
-		} else if ((i = handle_ansi_color_sequence(dest, src, n))) {
+		} else if (allow_control_characters != ALLOW_NO_CONTROL_CHARACTERS &&
+			   (i = handle_ansi_sequence(dest, src, n))) {
 			src += i;
 			n -= i;
 		} else {
diff --git a/t/t5409-colorize-remote-messages.sh b/t/t5409-colorize-remote-messages.sh
index e5092d3b42..896e790bf9 100755
--- a/t/t5409-colorize-remote-messages.sh
+++ b/t/t5409-colorize-remote-messages.sh
@@ -128,4 +128,42 @@ test_expect_success 'disallow (color) control sequences in sideband' '
 	test_file_not_empty actual
 '
 
+test_decode_csi() {
+	awk '{
+		while (match($0, /\033/) != 0) {
+			printf "%sCSI ", substr($0, 1, RSTART-1);
+			$0 = substr($0, RSTART + RLENGTH, length($0) - RSTART - RLENGTH + 1);
+		}
+		print
+	}'
+}
+
+test_expect_success 'control sequences in sideband allowed by default' '
+	write_script .git/color-me-surprised <<-\EOF &&
+	printf "error: \\033[31mcolor\\033[m\\033[Goverwrite\\033[Gerase\\033[K\\033?25l\\n" >&2
+	exec "$@"
+	EOF
+	test_config_global uploadPack.packObjectsHook ./color-me-surprised &&
+	test_commit need-at-least-one-commit-at-least &&
+
+	rm -rf throw-away &&
+	git clone --no-local . throw-away 2>stderr &&
+	test_decode_color <stderr >color-decoded &&
+	test_decode_csi <color-decoded >decoded &&
+	test_grep ! "CSI \\[K" decoded &&
+	test_grep ! "CSI \\[G" decoded &&
+	test_grep "\\^\\[?25l" decoded &&
+
+	rm -rf throw-away &&
+	git -c sideband.allowControlCharacters=erase,cursor,color \
+		clone --no-local . throw-away 2>stderr &&
+	test_decode_color <stderr >color-decoded &&
+	test_decode_csi <color-decoded >decoded &&
+	test_grep "RED" decoded &&
+	test_grep "CSI \\[K" decoded &&
+	test_grep "CSI \\[G" decoded &&
+	test_grep ! "\\^\\[\\[K" decoded &&
+	test_grep ! "\\^\\[\\[G" decoded
+'
+
 test_done
-- 
gitgitgadget


  parent reply	other threads:[~2026-02-03 10:18 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 85+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2025-01-14 18:19 [PATCH 0/3] Sanitize sideband channel messages Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2025-01-14 18:19 ` [PATCH 1/3] sideband: mask control characters Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2025-01-15 14:49   ` Phillip Wood
2025-12-02 15:43     ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-01-15 15:17   ` Andreas Schwab
2025-01-15 16:24     ` Junio C Hamano
2025-01-14 18:19 ` [PATCH 2/3] sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow " Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2025-01-14 18:19 ` [PATCH 3/3] sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by default Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2025-01-14 22:50 ` [PATCH 0/3] Sanitize sideband channel messages brian m. carlson
2025-01-16  6:45   ` Junio C Hamano
2025-01-28 16:03     ` Ondrej Pohorelsky
2025-01-31 17:55       ` Junio C Hamano
2025-12-02 14:11     ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-12-03  0:47       ` brian m. carlson
2025-12-03  8:04         ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-01-15 14:49 ` Phillip Wood
2025-12-02 14:56   ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-12-17 14:23 ` [PATCH v2 0/4] " Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2025-12-17 14:23   ` [PATCH v2 1/4] sideband: mask control characters Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-09 12:38     ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-01-16 19:29       ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-12-17 14:23   ` [PATCH v2 2/4] sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow " Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2025-12-18  2:22     ` Junio C Hamano
2025-12-18 17:59       ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-12-19 13:33         ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-16 19:25           ` Johannes Schindelin
2026-01-09 12:38     ` Patrick Steinhardt
2025-12-17 14:23   ` [PATCH v2 3/4] sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by default Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-09 12:38     ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-01-16 19:38       ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-12-17 14:23   ` [PATCH v2 4/4] sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed through Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-09 12:38     ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-01-10 17:26       ` brian m. carlson
2026-01-15 21:14         ` Jeff King
2026-01-15 21:36           ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-15 23:12             ` Johannes Schindelin
2026-01-16  6:45               ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-01-16 12:12                 ` Ondrej Pohorelsky
2026-01-16 15:21                   ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-16 18:46                     ` Johannes Schindelin
2026-01-16 19:24                       ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-19  7:20                     ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-01-19 22:16                       ` brian m. carlson
2026-01-20  2:41                         ` D. Ben Knoble
2026-01-20 17:05                         ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-20 19:31                           ` Jeff King
2026-01-20 20:11                             ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-21  7:39                           ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-01-22 12:29                           ` Johannes Schindelin
2026-01-22 17:58                             ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-15 23:10           ` brian m. carlson
2026-02-03  1:11             ` Junio C Hamano
2026-02-03  7:12               ` Johannes Schindelin
2026-02-03 19:00                 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-02-04 19:35               ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-16 19:47       ` Johannes Schindelin
2026-01-16 22:26   ` [PATCH v3 0/5] Sanitize sideband channel messages Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-16 22:26     ` [PATCH v3 1/5] sideband: mask control characters Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-16 22:26     ` [PATCH v3 2/5] sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow " Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-16 22:26     ` [PATCH v3 3/5] sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by default Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-16 22:26     ` [PATCH v3 4/5] sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed through Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-16 22:26     ` [PATCH v3 5/5] sideband: offer to configure sanitizing on a per-URL basis Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-16 22:32     ` [PATCH v3 0/5] Sanitize sideband channel messages Johannes Schindelin
2026-02-03 10:17     ` [PATCH v4 0/6] " Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-02-03 10:17       ` [PATCH v4 1/6] sideband: mask control characters Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-02-03 10:17       ` [PATCH v4 2/6] sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow " Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-02-03 10:17       ` [PATCH v4 3/6] sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by default Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-02-03 10:18       ` Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget [this message]
2026-02-03 10:18       ` [PATCH v4 5/6] sideband: offer to configure sanitizing on a per-URL basis Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-02-03 10:18       ` [PATCH v4 6/6] sideband: delay sanitizing by default to Git v3.0 Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-02-04 19:26       ` [PATCH v4 0/6] Sanitize sideband channel messages Junio C Hamano
2026-02-05 14:48         ` Junio C Hamano
2026-02-13 23:50           ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-02 18:11         ` [PATCH 0/3] Sanitizing sideband output Junio C Hamano
2026-03-02 18:11           ` [PATCH 1/3] sideband: drop 'default' configuration Junio C Hamano
2026-03-02 18:11           ` [PATCH 2/3] sideband: delay sanitizing by default to Git v3.0 Junio C Hamano
2026-03-02 18:11           ` [PATCH 3/3] sideband: conditional documentation fix Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34       ` [PATCH v5 0/7] Sanitizing sideband output Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 1/7] sideband: mask control characters Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 2/7] sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow " Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 3/7] sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by default Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 4/7] sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed through Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 5/7] sideband: offer to configure sanitizing on a per-URL basis Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 6/7] sideband: drop 'default' configuration Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 7/7] sideband: delay sanitizing by default to Git v3.0 Junio C Hamano

Reply instructions:

You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:

* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
  and reply-to-all from there: mbox

  Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style

* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
  switches of git-send-email(1):

  git send-email \
    --in-reply-to=ec48f1cba199d5ca466ad26cecfc4dfeb422fdf8.1770113882.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com \
    --to=gitgitgadget@gmail.com \
    --cc=ben.knoble@gmail.com \
    --cc=git@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=johannes.schindelin@gmx.de \
    --cc=opohorel@redhat.com \
    --cc=peff@peff.net \
    --cc=phillip.wood123@gmail.com \
    --cc=ps@pks.im \
    --cc=sandals@crustytoothpaste.net \
    --cc=schwab@linux-m68k.org \
    /path/to/YOUR_REPLY

  https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html

* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
  via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox