pg_temp implicit search path: functions vs. tables
Hi all,
I notice slightly different handling of the implicit search_path for
temporary tables and temporary functions. Consider:
(with a default search path):
# SHOW search_path;
search_path
----------------
"$user",public
(1 row)
BEGIN;
CREATE TABLE pg_temp.bar();
CREATE FUNCTION pg_temp.foofunc() RETURNS int AS $$
SELECT 1;
$$ LANGUAGE SQL;
SELECT * FROM bar;
SELECT * FROM foofunc();
COMMIT;
The select from temporary table bar above succeeds, but I get:
ERROR: function foofunc() does not exist
if I don't schema-qualify the function as pg_temp.foofunc(). So,
pg_temp is being implicitly included in the default search path when
looking for tables, but not for functions. Is there a reason for this
difference?
Josh
Josh Kupershmidt <schmiddy@gmail.com> writes:
pg_temp is being implicitly included in the default search path when
looking for tables, but not for functions. Is there a reason for this
difference?
Yes. They used to be the same, but awhile back we decided it was a
security hole to look for functions or operators in the implicit temp
schema. It makes it too easy for someone to substitute a trojan-horse
function that will be picked up in preference to whatever's in the
normal search path. See CVE-2007-2138.
If you actually do want to define and call temporary functions, you
can include "pg_temp" in the search path explicitly, or perhaps better,
explicitly qualify the intentional calls with pg_temp.
regards, tom lane
On Thu, Oct 21, 2010 at 12:47 AM, Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> wrote:
Josh Kupershmidt <schmiddy@gmail.com> writes:
pg_temp is being implicitly included in the default search path when
looking for tables, but not for functions. Is there a reason for this
difference?Yes. They used to be the same, but awhile back we decided it was a
security hole to look for functions or operators in the implicit temp
schema. It makes it too easy for someone to substitute a trojan-horse
function that will be picked up in preference to whatever's in the
normal search path. See CVE-2007-2138.If you actually do want to define and call temporary functions, you
can include "pg_temp" in the search path explicitly, or perhaps better,
explicitly qualify the intentional calls with pg_temp.
Thanks, thought it might be something like that.
Josh