ProxyCommand not working if $SHELL not defined

[Antonio Mignolli]

I have a suggested patch for the discussed SHELL var issue.
With the help of a function get_shell_from_env(), in misc.c,
it is now able to set always a good shell, falling back
to default if SHELL is not defined or it is not a valid executable,
hence including SHELL="" (empty string).

Tested in all cases:
. ssh with proxycommand
. ssh with local command execution
. sftp with local command execution (ex. lls)

(The patch also changes getenv("SHELL") with get_shell_from_env()
  in ssh-agent.c, where there is a check whether csh is specified).

The patch is made (and inspired) also by my friend Daniele Calore ( orkaan
() orkaan dot org ).

2009/9/12 Antonio Mignolli <antoniomignolli at gmail.com>

> I forgot, same issue with sftp, when executing local commands.
>
>
>
> 2009/9/12 Antonio Mignolli <antoniomignolli at gmail.com>
>
> Now I got it.
>> It happens when SHELL is defined but as empty string,
>> so I don't know if is to be considered an openssh issue.
>>
>> My user had a blank field in /etc/passwd, and logging in
>> in a icewm environment will give me shells with
>> an empty SHELL variable, causing getenv return a not NULL value.
>> Same issue when executing ssh_local_cmd, for the same reason,
>> there is another check on SHELL not null.
>> I have tested that, and with SHELL="" I got "Couldn't execute ..".
>>
>> Thanks for your attention.
>>
>> 2009/9/11 Darren Tucker <dtucker at zip.com.au>
>>
>> Antonio Mignolli wrote:
>>>
>>>> Probably is not a real issue, because everyone should have its SHELL var
>>>> defined,
>>>> but as said above, when it's not, ssh with ProxyCommand will fail.
>>>> I use connect.c, but with no SHELL var defined is not executed, ssh -v
>>>> will give "No such file", and I'm pretty sure it refers to the shell,
>>>> I read in ChangeLog that now ProxyCommand will use $SHELL instead
>>>> of /bin/sh.
>>>> Maybe consider using /bin/sh as default when SHELL is not defined?
>>>>
>>>
>>> It already does that.  From sshconnect.c:ssh_proxy_connect()
>>>
>>>        if ((shell = getenv("SHELL")) == NULL)
>>>                shell = _PATH_BSHELL;
>>>
>>> where _PATH_BSHELL is defined in defines.h as:
>>>
>>> #ifndef _PATH_BSHELL
>>> # define _PATH_BSHELL "/bin/sh"
>>>
>>> The only thing I can think of is _PATH_BSHELL being defined in the system
>>> headers and pointing somewhere else.  If you strace/truss ssh can you see
>>> what it's trying to open immediately before the "No such file"?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Darren Tucker (dtucker at zip.com.au)
>>> GPG key 8FF4FA69 / D9A3 86E9 7EEE AF4B B2D4  37C9 C982 80C7 8FF4 FA69
>>>    Good judgement comes with experience. Unfortunately, the experience
>>> usually comes from bad judgement.
>>>
>>
>>
>