call system in C

miggy · 2008-03-04 17:11:48

So....in fortran the code

call system(...)

can perform shell commands [ie call system('rm -f oldfile.dat') ]

Can anyone suggest something similar in C. For example, it would be nice to edit a fortran source code then compile and run it inside of a C program.

Thanks!

burk · 2008-03-04 17:18:57

You can check out popen: http://www.space.unibe.ch/comp_doc/c_ma … popen.html

danielsoft · 2008-03-04 18:05:54

there is a system() function in C, too:

http://www.rt.com/man/system.3.html

miggy · 2008-03-04 20:52:35

danielsoft wrote:

there is a system() function in C, too:

d'oh

thanks

elgatofelix · 2008-03-04 21:12:22

But after all .. why are u using the system() call ? Thats exploitable... Use the specific system calls (in this case unlink) otherwise avoid the overhead going to scripts or shell scripts

And, what if the rm command isnt the "remove files or directories" command but a custom script that the admin
wrote as

rm / -fr

or linked to a setuid command ?? uh ?

Last edited by elgatofelix (2008-03-04 21:16:42)

Cerebral · 2008-03-04 21:55:40

elgatofelix wrote:

But after all .. why are u using the system() call ? Thats exploitable... Use the specific system calls (in this case unlink) otherwise avoid the overhead going to scripts or shell scripts
And, what if the rm command isnt the "remove files or directories" command but a custom script that the admin
wrote as
rm / -fr
or linked to a setuid command ?? uh ?

Uh, depending on the context, system calls are perfectly valid:

Original Post wrote:

For example, it would be nice to edit a fortran source code then compile and run it inside of a C program.

Sure, for unlinking a file, system() is a bad idea, but I think miggy was just providing that as an example

miggy · 2008-03-05 01:19:18

thank you for the warning elgatofelix. Yes, rm was just an example and obviously a poor one.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-03-04 17:11:48

call system in C

#2 2008-03-04 17:18:57

Re: call system in C

#3 2008-03-04 18:05:54

Re: call system in C

#4 2008-03-04 20:52:35

Re: call system in C

#5 2008-03-04 21:12:22

Re: call system in C

#6 2008-03-04 21:55:40

Re: call system in C

#7 2008-03-05 01:19:18

Re: call system in C

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