run-command: restrict PATH search to executable files

In some situations run-command will incorrectly try (and fail) to
execute a directory instead of an executable file.  This was observed by
having a directory called "ssh" in $PATH before the real ssh and trying
to use ssh protoccol, reslting in the following:

	$ git ls-remote ssh://url
	fatal: cannot exec 'ssh': Permission denied

It ends up being worse and run-command will even try to execute a
non-executable file if it preceeds the executable version of a file on
the PATH.  For example, if PATH=~/bin1:~/bin2:~/bin3 and there exists a
directory 'git-hello' in 'bin1', a non-executable file 'git-hello' in
bin2 and an executable file 'git-hello' (which prints "Hello World!") in
bin3 the following will occur:

	$ git hello
	fatal: cannot exec 'git-hello': Permission denied

This is due to only checking 'access()' when locating an executable in
PATH, which doesn't distinguish between files and directories.  Instead
use 'is_executable()' which check that the path is to a regular,
executable file.  Now run-command won't try to execute the directory or
non-executable file 'git-hello':

	$ git hello
	Hello World!

which matches what execvp(3) would have done when asked to execute
git-hello with such a $PATH.

Reported-by: Brian Hatfield <bhatfield@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Brandon Williams <bmwill@google.com>
Reviewed-by: Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

1 files changed, 18 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/run-command.c b/run-command.c
index 2ffbd7e67b..9e36151bf9 100644
--- a/run-command.c
+++ b/run-command.c
@@ -159,6 +159,23 @@ int is_executable(const char *name)
 	return st.st_mode & S_IXUSR;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Search $PATH for a command.  This emulates the path search that
+ * execvp would perform, without actually executing the command so it
+ * can be used before fork() to prepare to run a command using
+ * execve() or after execvp() to diagnose why it failed.
+ *
+ * The caller should ensure that file contains no directory
+ * separators.
+ *
+ * Returns the path to the command, as found in $PATH or NULL if the
+ * command could not be found.  The caller inherits ownership of the memory
+ * used to store the resultant path.
+ *
+ * This should not be used on Windows, where the $PATH search rules
+ * are more complicated (e.g., a search for "foo" should find
+ * "foo.exe").
+ */
 static char *locate_in_PATH(const char *file)
 {
 	const char *p = getenv("PATH");
@@ -179,7 +196,7 @@ static char *locate_in_PATH(const char *file)
 		}
 		strbuf_addstr(&buf, file);
 
-		if (!access(buf.buf, F_OK))
+		if (is_executable(buf.buf))
 			return strbuf_detach(&buf, NULL);
 
 		if (!*end)