OpenVPN / OpenVPN/easy-rsa

Re: #1436 - Fix infinite loop on EOF, eval injection risk, and subshell inefficiency

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Description

Starting with: 4. Opaque nested loop in easyrsa_mktemp()

  1. I dispute the claim of: Opaque

These two lines of code are self explanatory:
https://github.com/OpenVPN/easy-rsa/blob/0d746eec3f06210ae1710d17b9c8d38428058e19/easyrsa3/easyrsa#L978-L981

They are directly connected by line number. Not Opaque.

(Side note: Hexadecimal could also be used here but we're keeping it simple)

  1. I reject changing easysa_mktemp(), from using a string literal (as intended), to using an evaluated numeric string (intentionally avoided), in order to generate a simple string as a file name.

Re: #1436

Prior to the for method above, easyrsa would call openssl, for a random text string, for every new tmp-file, there-by draining the system entropy pool. That was replaced with a predictable, high efficiency string literal, used to name tmp-files. It only looks like mathematics, if you're still trapped in The Matrix.

for high in a s; do
	for low in q w e r t y u i o; do
		shotfile="${secured_session}/temp.${high}${low}"

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the nested loops in easyrsa3/easyrsa around lines 978–981 and review the relationship to easyrsa_mktemp(), using issue #1436 for context. The issue does not establish an agreed change or completion criteria, so clarify the intended resolution before modifying code.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
shell
Domain
cli
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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