Security Basics mailing list archives
Win32 256 character limitations
From: Robert.Yung () L-3com com
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:19:26 -0400
Hi List, Hoping your varied experience can help with what I can't believe is still an issue in filesystem management and what it might mean. According to Microsoft (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320081/en-us) , NTFS supports paths that are much longer than 255 characters, but other applications that run on top of Windows may not. While I can't call them liars, I've repeatedly found that even Windows Explorer and Robocopy have problems copying and deleting files that have extremely long file paths. So my questions are: 1) Is there a way (third-party tool, some obscure windows trick, etc) to *make certain* that users do not create paths greater than a certain #? If not prevent, can we at least make it easier for the user to know that they are reaching potential problem areas with their filing practices? How do companies deal with this problem when doing file migrations for upgrades and disaster recovery? There must be some way to manage this issue. 2) Can/do viruses exploit this bug at all to create files that are unscannable by A/V? Anyone with commentary on anything related to 256 character limitations in production file server environments would be greatly appreciated. Potential products to investigate are also welcome! Thanks in advance, Rob
Current thread:
- Win32 256 character limitations Robert . Yung (Apr 15)
- Re: Win32 256 character limitations Kurt Buff (Apr 15)