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Unexplained text in data files

 
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# 8  
Old 08-12-2015
Of course it is, which is why you examined it in detail.

Anything used to create or modify the files is relevant.
# 9  
Old 08-12-2015
I examined it in detail to ensure there was no reference to the files being compromised. The code does not read or write to any of the files being altered. And in some instances what is being written to the data files is not pieces of other files but sometimes just lists of files from a directory. The code does not use anything that would cause that so something else is going on.
# 10  
Old 08-12-2015
Contention issue?
# 11  
Old 08-12-2015
Quote:
Originally Posted by SRoberts
I examined it in detail to ensure there was no reference to the files being compromised.
How exactly are these files being written to, by what?

There doesn't need to be a reference to their names, necessarily. Redirection from outside can cause them to write to it without having to tell it. This is my concern particularly since this looks like an unintended result of redirecting stderr into stdout.
Last edited by Corona688; 08-12-2015 at 01:06 PM..
# 12  
Old 08-12-2015
These data files are created by another program executable and are stored in a different directory. The thing I find weird is that some are 3 years old and just last week they got text added to them.

Excuse my ignorance as I am far from an expert in this field. What do you mean by redirection from outside can cause them to write to it without having to tell it?
# 13  
Old 08-12-2015
Quote:
Originally Posted by SRoberts
So the problem is occurring on a local system where I have data files that are ok at one point then at some point in the future (weeks, months) text from other files occurs at various locations in the data files. There does not seems to be a consistent location within the data files. The data files themselves are not do not seem to be altered based on the timestamp but the text is in there as the files are not usable and I have to recreate them. I thought maybe there was some error in some code I had written that caused this but I have gone through and everything seems legit so I am at a loss for what is causing it.
If the timestamps have not been altered when data inside the file has changed, either
  • the filesystem is mounted with file time updates disabled,
  • something is scribbling on the raw disk on which the file system containing your files is mounted,
  • you have a filesystem where two or more systems think they are THE server for the filesystem mounted on that slice,
  • you have a hardware problem (disk, disk controller, memory, etc.), or
  • an OS filesystem bug.
With the data you have provided, I don't see how we can narrow that down much.
This User Gave Thanks to Don Cragun For This Post:
SRoberts
# 14  
Old 08-12-2015
Quote:
Originally Posted by SRoberts
These data files are created by another program executable and are stored in a different directory. The thing I find weird is that some are 3 years old and just last week they got text added to them.

Excuse my ignorance as I am far from an expert in this field. What do you mean by redirection from outside can cause them to write to it without having to tell it?
Running a program like programname >datafile 2>&1 makes programname write to datafile even though the program doesn't know the file name -- it doesn't even open the file itself.
 
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