Hiding process arguments from ps -ef

[Alex Meov]

Hello,

Is there an easy way to make the argument list of the process
(X) not show up when running 'ps -ef' or similar? I can do that
by making the calling process (P) pass arguments by other means
(e.g. through a temporary file that X will read and erase) but
if there is a standard way to do that from within the process X
it would be better.

If it matters, P is a perl script, X is a C++ program, running
on solaris.

Suggestions are appreciated!

--
Best regards,
Alex

[Kurtis D. Rader]

On Sun, 13 Jul 2003 22:42:50 +0000, Alex Meov wrote:

> Is there an easy way to make the argument list of the process (X) not
> show up when running 'ps -ef' or similar? I can do that by making the
> calling process (P) pass arguments by other means (e.g. through a
> temporary file that X will read and erase) but if there is a standard way
> to do that from within the process X it would be better.

There is no standard way for a process to change the program name and
arguments reported by ps(1). By "standard" I mean a method that will
work on any UNIX implementation that claims to conform to a published
specification. I don't know whether or not there is a Solaris specific
mechanism for achieving your goal.

The only portable method for doing this is for the process in question
to re-exec() itself. Of course, this isn't really a solution since there
is a small window of time during which the arguments are visible. Too,
note that even if your OS (e.g., Solaris) provides a mechanism for a
process to change its command line arguments the race condition is still
present. Between the time the program is exec()'ed and it changes its
command line someone may run ps(1) and view the original command line.
Rather than rely on a mechanism for changing the command line you should
redesign the information passing mechanism so that sensitive information
isn't passed via the command line.

[Fletcher Glenn]

Alex Meov wrote:

>
> Hello,
>
> Is there an easy way to make the argument list of the process
> (X) not show up when running 'ps -ef' or similar? I can do that
> by making the calling process (P) pass arguments by other means
> (e.g. through a temporary file that X will read and erase) but
> if there is a standard way to do that from within the process X
> it would be better.
>
> If it matters, P is a perl script, X is a C++ program, running
> on solaris.
>
> Suggestions are appreciated!
>
> --
> Best regards,
> Alex

What always works for me is to connect the stdout of one program
to the stdin of the other. Anything I want to hide is sent
through this link.

--
Fletcher Glenn
email [email]f-g-l-e-n-n@quest.com[/email] (remove the dashes)