[Python-ideas] Secure string disposal (maybe other inmutable seq types too?)

[Ezequiel Brizuela [aka EHB or qlixed]]

El vie., 22 de jun. de 2018 22:33, Terry Reedy <tjreedy at udel.edu> escribió:

> On 6/22/2018 8:31 PM, Ezequiel Brizuela [aka EHB or qlixed] wrote:
> > As all the string in python are immutable, is impossible to overwrite
> > the value
>
> Not if one uses ctypes.  Is that what you did?
>

No. I was using exclusivelly python strings functions from the C api.

>    Well I already do it:
> >
> > https://github.com/qlixed/python-memwiper/
>
> > But i hit a lot of problems in the road, I was working on me free time
> > over the last year on this and make it "almost" work, but that is not
> > relevant to the proposal.
>
> I think it is.  A very small fraction of Python users need such wiping.
>



And I doubt that it can be complete.  For instance, I suspect that a
> password entered into getpass, for instance, first exists in OS form
> before being copied into a Python string objects.  Wiping the Python
> string  would not wipe the original copy.


Agree. It migth be more places to search.

  So this really should be
> attacked at the OS level, not the language level.


This need to be tackled from all the sides. Ensuring the minimal attack
surface possible for anyone.
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