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MKTEMP(3) OpenBSD Programmer's Manual MKTEMP(3) NAME mktemp, mkstemp, mkstemps, mkdtemp - make temporary file name (unique) SYNOPSIS #include <unistd.h> char * mktemp(char *template); int mkstemp(char *template); int mkstemps(char *template, int suffixlen); char * mkdtemp(char *template); DESCRIPTION The mktemp() function takes the given file name template and overwrites a portion of it to create a file name. This file name is unique and suit- able for use by the application. The template may be any file name with some number of `X's appended to it, for example /tmp/temp.XXXX. The trailing `X's are replaced with the current process number and/or a unique letter combination. The number of unique file names mktemp() can return depends on the number of `X's provided; six `X's will result in mktemp() testing roughly 26 ** 6 combinations. At least 6 `X's should be used, though 10 is much better. The mkstemp() function makes the same replacement to the template and creates the template file, mode 0600, returning a file descriptor opened for reading and writing. This avoids the race between testing for a file's existence and opening it for use. The mkstemps() function acts the same as mkstemp(), except it permits a suffix to exist in the template. The template should be of the form /tmp/tmpXXXXXXXXXXsuffix. mkstemps() is told the length of the suffix string, i.e., strlen("suffix"); The mkdtemp() function makes the same replacement to the template as in mktemp() and creates the template directory, mode 0700. RETURN VALUES The mktemp() and mkdtemp() functions return a pointer to the template on success and NULL on failure. The mkstemp() function returns -1 if no suitable file could be created. If either call fails an error code is placed in the global variable errno. EXAMPLES Quite often a programmer will want to replace a use of mktemp() with mkstemp(), usually to avoid the problems described above. Doing this correctly requires a good understanding of the code in question. For instance, code of this form: char sfn[15] = ""; FILE *sfp; strlcpy(sfn, "/tmp/ed.XXXXXXXXXX", sizeof sfn); if (mktemp(sfn) == NULL || (sfp = fopen(sfn, "w+")) == NULL) { fprintf(stderr, "%s: %s\n", sfn, strerror(errno)); return (NULL); } return (sfp); should be rewritten like this: char sfn[15] = ""; FILE *sfp; int fd = -1; strlcpy(sfn, "/tmp/ed.XXXXXXXXXX", sizeof sfn); if ((fd = mkstemp(sfn)) == -1 || (sfp = fdopen(fd, "w+")) == NULL) { if (fd != -1) { unlink(sfn); close(fd); } fprintf(stderr, "%s: %s\n", sfn, strerror(errno)); return (NULL); } return (sfp); Often one will find code which uses mktemp() very early on, perhaps to globally initialize the template nicely, but the code which calls open(2) or fopen(3) on that filename will occur much later. (In almost all cas- es, the use of fopen(3) will mean that the flags O_CREAT | O_EXCL are not given to open(2), and thus a symbolic link race becomes possible, hence making necessary the use of fdopen(3) as seen above). Furthermore, one must be careful about code which opens, closes, and then re-opens the file in question. Finally, one must ensure that upon error the temporary file is removed correctly. There are also cases where modifying the code to use mktemp(), in concert with open(2) using the flags O_CREAT | O_EXCL, is better, as long as the code retries a new template if open(2) fails with an errno of EEXIST. ERRORS The mkstemp() and mkdtemp() functions may set errno to one of the follow- ing values: [ENOTDIR] The pathname portion of the template is not an existing di- rectory. The mkstemp() and mkdtemp() functions may also set errno to any value specified by the stat(2) function. The mkstemp() function may also set errno to any value specified by the open(2) function. The mkstemps() function may also set errno to any value specified by the open(2) function or, [EINVAL] The suffix length is longer than the template length. The mkdtemp() function may also set errno to any value specified by the mkdir(2) function. SEE ALSO chmod(2), getpid(2), mkdir(2), open(2), stat(2), tempnam(3), tmpfile(3), tmpnam(3) HISTORY A mktemp() function appeared in Version 7 AT&T UNIX. The mkdtemp() func- tion appeared in OpenBSD 2.2. The mkstemp() function appeared in 4.4BSD. The mkstemps() function appeared in OpenBSD 2.3. BUGS For mktemp() there is an obvious race between file name selection and file creation and deletion: the program is typically written to call tmpnam(3), tempnam(3), or mktemp(). Subsequently, the program calls open(2) or fopen(3) and erroneously opens a file (or symbolic link, FIFO or other device) that the attacker has created in the expected file loca- tion. Hence mkstemp() is recommended, since it atomically creates the file. An attacker can guess the filenames produced by mktemp(). Whenev- er it is possible, mkstemp() or mkdtemp() should be used instead. For this reason, ld(1) will output a warning message whenever it links code that uses mktemp(). The mkdtemp() and mkstemps() functions are non-standard and should not be used if portability is required. OpenBSD 3.4 June 4, 1993 3
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | RETURN VALUES | EXAMPLES | ERRORS | SEE ALSO | HISTORY | BUGS
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