chown does not check for symlinks pointing to root when recursing through a tree
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U - chown
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- Rust
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Description
Even if the --preserve-root option is set the chown command will attempt to follow a symlink pointing to root. This can be seen with the following test:
mkdir point-to-root
ln -s / point-to-root/root
chown -RHh --preserve-root 1000 point-to-root/
The GNU chown will exit immediately, while this chown will follow the symlink and start trying to change root.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reproducing the provided chown command with --preserve-root, -R, -H, and -h, then trace the recursive symlink handling and root-preservation checks in the chown implementation. Done means the command detects the symlink to /, exits without attempting to change files under root, and matches the GNU chown behavior described.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- rust
- Domain
- cli, operating-systems
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100