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Subject: bug#79218: BUG: sudo rm -rf /* removes without --no-preserve-root
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 Content preview:  Hello coreutils maintainers,
 I noticed a potentially dangerous
 difference in how rm handles the / and /* patterns. Currently: 
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Hello coreutils maintainers,

I noticed a potentially dangerous difference in how rm handles the / and /*
patterns.

Currently:

$ sudo rm -rf /
rm: it is dangerous to operate recursively on '/'
rm: use --no-preserve-root to override this failsafe

This prevents accidental deletion of the root directory.

However:

$ sudo rm -rf /*

This command will proceed to remove the contents of /, effectively
destroying the system, without any warning.

While this is technically correct according to shell expansion rules, it
may be surprising for some users. People might assume /* is just as
protected as /, but the safeguard doesn=E2=80=99t apply.

P.S.: I removed root(

--000000000000b964e2063c14366b
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<div dir=3D"ltr"><p>Hello coreutils maintainers,</p><p>I noticed a potentia=
lly dangerous difference in how <code>rm</code> handles the <code>/</code> =
and <code>/*</code> patterns.</p>
<p>Currently:</p>
<pre class=3D"gmail-overflow-visible!"><div class=3D"gmail-contain-inline-s=
ize gmail-rounded-2xl gmail-relative gmail-bg-token-sidebar-surface-primary=
"><div class=3D"gmail-flex gmail-items-center gmail-text-token-text-seconda=
ry gmail-px-4 gmail-py-2 gmail-text-xs gmail-font-sans gmail-justify-betwee=
n gmail-h-9 gmail-bg-token-sidebar-surface-primary gmail-select-none gmail-=
rounded-t-2xl"><span style=3D"font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">$ sud=
o rm -rf /</span></div><div class=3D"gmail-overflow-y-auto gmail-p-4" dir=
=3D"ltr"><code class=3D"gmail-whitespace-pre!">rm: it <span class=3D"gmail-=
hljs-keyword">is</span> dangerous <span class=3D"gmail-hljs-keyword">to</sp=
an> operate recursively <span class=3D"gmail-hljs-keyword">on</span> <span =
class=3D"gmail-hljs-string">&#39;/&#39;</span>
rm: use <span class=3D"gmail-hljs-comment">--no-preserve-root to override t=
his failsafe</span>
</code></div></div></pre>
<p>This prevents accidental deletion of the root directory.</p>
<p>However:</p>
<pre class=3D"gmail-overflow-visible!"><div class=3D"gmail-contain-inline-s=
ize gmail-rounded-2xl gmail-relative gmail-bg-token-sidebar-surface-primary=
"><div class=3D"gmail-flex gmail-items-center gmail-text-token-text-seconda=
ry gmail-px-4 gmail-py-2 gmail-text-xs gmail-font-sans gmail-justify-betwee=
n gmail-h-9 gmail-bg-token-sidebar-surface-primary gmail-select-none gmail-=
rounded-t-2xl"><span class=3D"gmail-hljs-meta gmail-prompt_" style=3D"font-=
family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">$ </span><span class=3D"gmail-language-b=
ash" style=3D"font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">sudo <span class=3D"g=
mail-hljs-built_in">rm</span></span><span style=3D"font-family:Arial,Helvet=
ica,sans-serif"> -rf /*</span></div></div></pre>
<p>This command will proceed to remove the contents of <code>/</code>, effe=
ctively destroying the system, without any warning.</p>
<p>While this is technically correct according to shell expansion rules, it=
 may be surprising for some users. People might assume <code>/*</code> is j=
ust as protected as <code>/</code>, but the safeguard doesn=E2=80=99t apply=
.<br></p><p>P.S.: I removed root(</p></div>

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From: help-debbugs@HIDDEN (GNU bug Tracking System)
To: Doctorixx <jebpip2008@HIDDEN>
Subject: bug#79218: Acknowledgement (BUG: sudo rm -rf /* removes without
 --no-preserve-root)
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Message sent to bug-coreutils@HIDDEN:

Subject: bug#79218: BUG: sudo rm -rf /* removes without --no-preserve-root
Resent-From: Collin Funk <collin.funk1@HIDDEN>
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Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2025 08:53:06 -0700
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Hi,

Doctorixx <jebpip2008@HIDDEN> writes:

> Hello coreutils maintainers,
>
> I noticed a potentially dangerous difference in how rm handles the / and =
/*
> patterns.
>
> Currently:
>
> $ sudo rm -rf /
> rm: it is dangerous to operate recursively on '/'
> rm: use --no-preserve-root to override this failsafe
>
> This prevents accidental deletion of the root directory.
>
> However:
>
> $ sudo rm -rf /*
>
> This command will proceed to remove the contents of /, effectively
> destroying the system, without any warning.
>
> While this is technically correct according to shell expansion rules, it
> may be surprising for some users. People might assume /* is just as
> protected as /, but the safeguard doesn=E2=80=99t apply.

The 'rm' command does not handle /* since globbing is handled by the
shell. So 'rm' has no way of knowing it is passed /*, it just sees file
names passed to the command-line. Here is an example:

    $ cat main.c=20
    #include <stdio.h>
    #include <stdlib.h>
    int
    main (int argc, char **argv)
    {
      for (int i =3D 1; i < argc; ++i)
        printf ("%s\n", argv[i]);
      return EXIT_SUCCESS;
    }
    $ gcc main.c
    $ ./a.out /*
    /afs
    /bin
    /boot
    /dev
    /etc
    /home
    [...]

Collin

Message sent to bug-coreutils@HIDDEN:

Subject: bug#79218: BUG: sudo rm -rf /* removes without --no-preserve-root
Resent-From: =?UTF-8?Q?P=C3=A1draig?= Brady <P@HIDDEN>
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On 11/08/2025 11:16, Doctorixx wrote:
> Hello coreutils maintainers,
> 
> I noticed a potentially dangerous difference in how rm handles the / and /*
> patterns.
> 
> Currently:
> 
> $ sudo rm -rf /
> rm: it is dangerous to operate recursively on '/'
> rm: use --no-preserve-root to override this failsafe
> 
> This prevents accidental deletion of the root directory.
> 
> However:
> 
> $ sudo rm -rf /*
> 
> This command will proceed to remove the contents of /, effectively
> destroying the system, without any warning.
> 
> While this is technically correct according to shell expansion rules, it
> may be surprising for some users. People might assume /* is just as
> protected as /, but the safeguard doesn’t apply.
> 
> P.S.: I removed root(

Unfortunately, rm doesn't see the "/*", it only see's the individual paths,
as the shell does the expansion before executing rm.

A more problematic expansion might be inadvertently adding a space after ~/.
For example if you wanted to `rm -Rf ~/foo/` but instead did `rm -Rf ~/ foo/`.
This is something we could potentially protect against I suppose.

cheers,
Padraig

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From: Collin Funk <collin.funk1@HIDDEN>
To: control <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#79218: BUG: sudo rm -rf /* removes without --no-preserve-root
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2025 18:40:31 -0700
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