Subject: libssh2_channel_write_ex() returning 0

libssh2_channel_write_ex() returning 0

From: Nathan Myers <ncm_at_cantrip.org>
Date: Tue, 04 Dec 2012 15:33:57 -0800

In increasing order of apparent importance:

1. This code in src/channel.c, circa line 1767:

     rc = 1; /* set to >0 to let the while loop start */
     ...
     while (rc > 0)
         rc = _libssh2_transport_read(session);

    would better be

     do rc = _libssh2_transport_read(session);
     while (rc > 0);

2. The page www.libssh2.org lists features of libssh2, but the list
    is incomplete. In particular, libssh2 supports CTR modes now, and
    host-key file management probably deserves mention. Recent U.S.
    federal procurement guidelines require preferring CTR cipher modes
    over CBC, so it could make an important difference in adoption.

3. In release 1.4.3, src/channel.c, _libssh2_channel_write(), line 2017:

                return (rc==LIBSSH2_ERROR_EAGAIN?rc:0);

    Here rc is the result from _libssh2_transport_read(session).
    When the output buffer is full, but the input buffer wasn't, this
    returns 0. It seems to me (and please correct me if I am mistaken)
    that libssh2_channel_write_ex() should only return 0 if the buflen
    argument is itself zero. I think that the correct line here would
    be simply

                return LIBSSH2_ERROR_EAGAIN;

    This fixes an infinite loop in typical fwrite()-like code that
    assumes that (the equivalent of) write() will prefer reporting
    EAGAIN over returning zero.

I am sorry to discover this only immediately after a release, but I
suppose that's what releases are really for.

Nathan Myers
ncm_at_cantrip.org
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Received on 2012-12-05