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Q318918: Writing Secure Code Comments And Corrections

Article: Q318918
Product(s): Microsoft Press
Version(s): 
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbdocfix kbdocerr
Last Modified: 13-MAY-2002

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- MSPRESS Writing Secure Code ISBN 0-7356-1588-8 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY
=======

This article contains comments, corrections, and information about known errors
relating to the Microsoft Press book Writing Secure Code, ISBN 0-7356-1588-8.

The following topics are covered:

- Page 66: Error In Code Sample

- Page 91: Error In Code Sample

- Page 107: Error In Code Sample

- Pages 144 And 146: Error In Code Samples

- Page 166: Incorrect Content

- Page 166: Error In Code Sample

- Page 179: Error In Note

- Page 179: Incorrect Content In Note

- Page 218: Incorrect Content

- Page 243: Error In Code Sample

- Page 263: Error In Code Sample

- Page 267: NLTM Should Be NTLM

- Page 283: Incorrect Overall Chances Statement

- Page 315: Incorrect Content In "Important" Box

- Page 323: Incorrect Content

- Page 327: Error In Code Sample

- Page 327: Error In Code Sample

- Page 329: Error In Code Sample

- Page 345: Missing Statement

- Page 365: Missing F In Code Sample

- Page 385: Process.exe Should Be Program.exe

- Page 394: Error In First Paragraph

- Page 405: Error In Code Sample

- Page 424: 2 Should Be 3

- Page 425: Missing Content Regarding FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NOT_CONTENT_INDEXED

- Page 433: Incorrect Statement About *cpy API's

MORE INFORMATION
================

Page 66: Error In Code Sample
-----------------------------

There is an error in the code at the top of page 66. Change:

  "{ 
              //Blatant ?..
              Printf(? ??.
              Printf(? ?..
              Foo(argv[1]);
              Return 0;
  }"

To:

  "{ 
  	if (argc != 2)
  	{
  	printf("Please supply a string as an argument!\n");
  	return -1;
  	}

  	//Blatant ?..
  	Printf(? ??.
  	Printf(? ?..
  	Foo(argv[1]);
  	Return 0;
  }"


Page 91: Error In Code Sample
-----------------------------

There is an error in the code sample on page 91. Change:

  "BYTE *pbBuff = new BYTE[cbBuff]; 
  // Now read cbBuff bytes of data. 
  if (pbBuff && RegQueryValueEx(...) == ERROR_SUCCESS) { 
      // Cool! 
      // We have read the data from the registry. 

  delete [] pbBuff; 
  }"

To:

  "BYTE *pbBuff = new BYTE[cbBuff]; 
  // Now read cbBuff bytes of data. 
  if (pbBuff && RegQueryValueEx(...) == ERROR_SUCCESS) { 
      // Cool! 
      // We have read the data from the registry. 

      //Use Data

  }

  delete [] pbBuff;"


Page 107: Error In Code Sample
------------------------------

There is an error in the code on page 107. Change:

  "CSid sidAdmin("BUILTIN\\Administrators");
  CSid sidGuests("Guests");"

To:

  "CSid sidAdmin = Sids::Admins();
  CSid sidGuests = Sids::Guests();"


Pages 144 And 146: Error In Code Samples
----------------------------------------

Each of these code samples request TOKEN_ADJUST_DEFAULT. This is only needed if
you are to change the owner, primary group, or default DACL on the token via
SetTokenInformation. Please disregard this request.


Page 166: Incorrect Content
---------------------------

There is an error at the top of page 166. Change:

"A Mathematical Theory of Computation"

To:
"A Mathematical Theory of Communication"


Page 166: Error In Code Sample
------------------------------

The code sample on page 166 does not check for negative numbers. Change:

  "Function EntropyBits(iNumValidValues, iPwdSize)
  	EntropyBits = Log(iNumValidValues ^ iPwdSize) / Log(2)
  End Function"

To:

  "Function EntropyBits(iNumValidValues, iPwdSize)
  	If iNumValidValues <= 0 Then
  		EntropyBits = 0
  	Else
  		EntropyBits = iPwdSize * log(iNumValidValues) / Log(2)
  	End If
  End Function"


Page 179: Error In Note
-----------------------

There is an error on the second line of the note on page 179. Change:
"...regardless of encryption algorithm,"

To:
"...regardless of symmetric encryption algorithm,"


Page 179: Incorrect Content In Note
-----------------------------------

There is an error in the Note box on page 179. Change:

"you should never use the same key to encrypt data regardless of encryption
algorithm,"

To:
"you should never use the same key to encrypt data regardless of symmetric
encryption algorithm,"


Page 218: Incorrect Content
---------------------------

The first two paragraphs on page 218 need to be changed to:

"For example, /tmp/frodo, a symlink in the temporary directory, might point to
the Unix password file /etc/passwd or to some other sensitive file.

On startup, Sun's StarOffice creates an object named /tmp/soffice.tmp which
allows anyone to do anything with it. In Unix parlance, the access mask is 0777,
which is just as bad as Everyone (Full Control). An attacker can create a
symlink from /tmp/soffice.tmp to a user's file. When that user then runs
StarOffice, StarOffice blindly changes the permission settings on that file
(because setting permissions on a symlink sets the permissions of the target, if
the process has permission to make that change). Once this is done, the attacker
can read the file.

If the attacker linked /tmp/soffice.tmp to /etc/passwd and someone ran StarOffice
as the Unix administrator, then the permissions on /etc/passwd would get
changed."


Page 243: Error In Code Sample
------------------------------

There is an error in the code sample on page 243. Change:

  "
  printf("Cannot set SO_REUSEADDR - err = %d\n",
  "

To:

  "
  printf("Cannot set SO_EXCLUSIVEADDRUSE - err = %d\n",
  "


Page 263: Error In Code Sample
------------------------------

There is an error in the second code sample on page 263. Change:

  "[size_is(lo, hi) char **ppData);"

To:

  "[size_is(lo, hi)] char **ppData);"


Page 267: NLTM Should Be NTLM
-----------------------------

On page 267, in the 4th line in the Kerberos Support section, change:
"...and NLTM authenticates..."

To:
"...and NTLM authenticates..."


Page 283: Incorrect Overall Chances Statement
---------------------------------------------

On page 283, in line 12, change:
"...is given by (0.9999)^3000, which is approximately..."

To:
"...is given by (1-0.9999)^3000, which is approximately..."


Page 315: Incorrect Content In "Important" Box
----------------------------------------------

There is an error in the Important box on page 315. Change:

"otherwise, it checks the first line only."

To:
"otherwise, it checks the first line only if ?^? and ?$? is not specified in the
regular expression."


Page 323: Incorrect Content
---------------------------

There is an error in the last paragraph on page 323. Change:

"11000101 10000011, or 0xC5 0x83?

To:
?11000010 10100011, or 0xC2 0xA3?


Page 327: Error In Code Sample
------------------------------

There is an error in the code sample on page 327. There is a lower case S which
should be capitalized.

Change:

  printf(?MultiByteToWideChar() returned ? 
      ?%s (%d) wide characters\n", 
      wszResult, 
      iRes);

To:

  printf(?MultiByteToWideChar() returned ? 
      ?%S (%d) wide characters\n", 
      wszResult, 
      iRes);


Page 327: Error In Code Sample
------------------------------

There is an error in the code sample on page 327. Change:

  "%s (%d) wide characters\n","

To:

  "%S (%d) wide characters\n","


Page 329: Error In Code Sample
------------------------------

There is an error in the code sample on page 329. Change:

  "	printf("Usage: HardLink <linkname> <target>\n");
  }"

To:

  "	printf("Usage: HardLink <linkname> <target>\n");
  	return;
  }"


Page 345: Missing Statement
---------------------------

There is a statement missing from the first paragraph on page 345.

Add the following section just above the Note box:

"If you must create your own -GS handler, do not throw an exception, and that
includes calling DebugBreak, which also throws an exception. This is because the
exception address is on the stack and may be overwritten by the vulnerable
code."


Page 365: Missing F In Code Sample
----------------------------------

There is an error in the first line of the code sample on page 365.

Change:

  #define MAX_BUF (128)"

To:

  #define MAX_BUFF (128)"


Page 385: Process.exe Should Be Program.exe
-------------------------------------------

The second paragraph on page 385 contains an error. Change:
"The following simple Perl script creates a file named File.txt which is read by
Process.exe."

To:
"The following simple Perl script creates a file named File.txt which is read by
Program.exe."


Page 394: Error In First Paragraph
----------------------------------

There is an error in the first paragraph on page 394. Change:

"For example, &{alert('document.cookie');}"

To:

"For example, &{alert(document.cookie)};"


Page 405: Error In Code Sample
------------------------------

There is an error in the code sample on page 405. Change:

  "wprintf(L"Usage is %s [input file], argv[0]);"

To:

  "wprintf(L"Usage is %s [input file]", argv[0]);"


Page 424: 2 Should Be 3
-----------------------

On page 424, in the statement just above the code sample, change:
"...that meet requirements 1 and 2:"

To:
"...that meet requirements 1 and 3:"


Page 425: Missing Content Regarding FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NOT_CONTENT_INDEXED
----------------------------------------------------------------------

The following text should be added just before or after Table 16-1 on page 425 or
426:

"Note The FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NOT_CONTENT_INDEXED is ignored by CreateFile. This bit
is inherited from current directory, so you should set this option on the
directory in which you wish to store the temporary data. Alternatively, you can
call SetFileAttributes to set this bit on the file once it is created. The
former is recommended as it is safer and faster."


Page 433: Incorrect Statement About *cpy API's
----------------------------------------------

There is an incorrect statement in the *cpy section on page 433. Change:

?It?s not guaranteed that these functions will null-terminate the destination
buffer"

To:
?It?s not guaranteed that these functions (except lstrcpyn) will null-terminate
the destination buffer"


Microsoft Press is committed to providing informative and accurate books. All
comments and corrections listed above are ready for inclusion in future
printings of this book. If you have a later printing of this book, it may
already contain most or all of the above corrections.

Additional query words: DEVBOOK 0-7356-1588-8 LEBLANC

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Keywords          : kbdocfix kbdocerr 
Technology        : kbMSPressSearch
Version           : :
Issue type        : kbinfo

=============================================================================
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