[illumos-Developer] Should the illumos libc glob include GLOB_LIMIT?

[Gary Mills]

I've been looking at the glob(3C) function in illumos (and Solaris)
libc.  It defines only the set of flags defined by POSIX 1003.2.
Other operating systems add a set of non-standard flags.  The most
recent of these seems to be GLOB_LIMIT, an option that instructs the
glob function to limit its path search before resources are exhausted.
This option is needed to protect against a class of DOS attacks that
are possible when services utilize the glob function from libc.

What are the implications of adding a GLOB_LIMIT flag to the glob(3C)
function?  Applications would have to set this flag before they could
take advantage of its function.  Existing applications would not be
affected.  Is this a good approach, or are there are better
alternatives?

-- 
-Gary Mills-        -Unix Group-        -Computer and Network Services-