NAME

       Paranoid - Paranoia support for safer programs

VERSION

       $Id: Paranoid.pm,v 0.34 2012/05/29 21:40:51 acorliss Exp $

SYNOPSIS

         use Paranoid;

         $errMsg = Paranoid::ERROR;

         psecureEnv("/bin:/usr/bin");

DESCRIPTION

       This collection of modules started out as modules which perform things (debatably) in a
       safer and taint-safe manner.  Since then it's also grown to include functionality that fit
       into the same framework and conventions of the original modules, including keeping the
       debug hooks for command-line debugging.

       All the modules below are intended to be used directly in your programs if you need the
       functionality they provide.

       This module does provide one function meant to secure your environment enough to satisfy
       taint-enabled programs, and as a container which holds the last reported error from any
       code in the Paranoid framework.

SUBROUTINES/METHODS

   psecureEnv
         psecureEnv("/bin:/usr/bin");

       This function deletes some of the dangerous environment variables that can be used to
       subvert perl when being run in setuid applications.  It also sets the path, either to the
       passed argument (if passed) or a default of "/bin:/usr/bin".

   Paranoid::ERROR
         $errMsg = Paranoid::ERROR;
         Paranoid::ERROR = $errMsg;

       This lvalue function is not exported and must be referenced via the Paranoid namespace.

TAINT NOTES

       Taint-mode programming can be somewhat of an adventure until you know all the places
       considered dangerous under perl's taint mode.  The following functions should generally
       have their arguments detainted before using:

         exec        system      open        glob
         unlink      mkdir       chdir       rmdir
         chown       chmod       umask       utime
         link        symlink     kill        eval
         truncate    ioctl       fcntl       chroot
         setpgrp     setpriority syscall     socket
         socketpair  bind        connect

DEPENDENCIES

       While this module itself doesn't have any external dependencies various child modules do.
       Please check their documentation for any particulars should you use them.

SEE ALSO

       The following modules are available for use.  You should check their POD for specifics on
       use:

       o   Paranoid::Args: Command-line argument parsing functions

       o   Paranoid::BerkeleyDB: OO-oriented BerkelyDB access with concurrent access capabilities

       o   Paranoid::Data: Misc. data manipulation functions

       o   Paranoid::Debug: Command-line debugging framework and functions

       o   Paranoid::Filesystem: Filesystem operation functions

       o   Paranoid::Glob: Paranoid Glob objects

       o   Paranoid::Input: Input-related functions (file reading, detainting)

       o   Paranoid::Lockfile: Lockfile support

       o   Paranoid::Log: Unified logging framework and functions

       o   Paranoid::Module: Run-time module loading functions

       o   Paranoid::Network: Network-related functions

       o   Paranoid::Network::IPv4: General IPv4-related functions

       o   Paranoid::Network::IPv6: General IPv6-related functions

       o   Paranoid::Network::Socket: Wrapper module for Socket & Socket6

       o   Paranoid::Process: Process management functions

BUGS AND LIMITATIONS

       If your application is sensitive to performance issues then you may be better off not
       using these modules.  The primary focus was on security, robustness, and diagnostics.
       That said, there's probably a lot of room for improvement on the performance front.

AUTHOR

       Arthur Corliss (corliss@digitalmages.com)

LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

       This software is licensed under the same terms as Perl, itself.  Please see
       http://dev.perl.org/licenses/ for more information.

       (c) 2005, Arthur Corliss (corliss@digitalmages.com)