mod_auth-any/4858: group definitions larger than 8192 bytes get chopped

[Tero Paananen <tp...@iki.fi>]

>Number:         4858
>Category:       mod_auth-any
>Synopsis:       group definitions larger than 8192 bytes get chopped
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       serious
>Priority:       medium
>Responsible:    apache
>State:          open
>Class:          sw-bug
>Submitter-Id:   apache
>Arrival-Date:   Fri Aug 13 14:30:26 PDT 1999
>Last-Modified:
>Originator:     tpp+apachebug@iki.fi
>Organization:
apache
>Release:        1.3.3
>Environment:
FreeBSD 2.2.7-STABLE #0: Tue Dec 22 15:27:52 EST 1998
Server: Apache/1.3.3
>Description:
It appears that a group definition (groupname, colon, group member usernames separated by spaces) has a limit of 8192 bytes. Normally good enough, but what if you DO have a lot of users and they DO belong into the same group.

I haven't tried this with servers later than 1.3.3, this is on a production server for a client hosted by a 3rd party, which I can not go on and upgrade by myself.

Sorry, if this one has already been fixed in later releases.
>How-To-Repeat:
In the AuthGroupFile file, for one group, list so many users that the total amount of data (including the groupname and the colon) exceeds 8192 bytes
>Fix:
A work around is to split the groups into 8192 byte subgroups, which is sort of okay. Makes writing automated maintanance tools a bitch though.
>Audit-Trail:
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