[bug #62586] Warning given every time wget runs: “.netrc:..: unknown token” when a password contains quotes

[Eo Koochu]

URL:
  <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?62586>

                 Summary: Warning given every time wget runs: “.netrc:..:
unknown token” when a password contains quotes
                 Project: GNU Wget
               Submitter: eokoochu
               Submitted: Sun 05 Jun 2022 04:46:28 PM UTC
                Category: Program Logic
                Severity: 3 - Normal
                Priority: 5 - Normal
                  Status: None
                 Privacy: Public
             Assigned to: None
         Originator Name: 
        Originator Email: 
             Open/Closed: Open
                 Release: trunk
         Discussion Lock: Any
        Operating System: GNU/Linux
         Reproducibility: Every Time
           Fixed Release: None
         Planned Release: None
              Regression: None
           Work Required: None
          Patch Included: No


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Follow-up Comments:


-------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun 05 Jun 2022 04:46:28 PM UTC By: Eo Koochu <eokoochu>
Background:

Different applications expect a different password syntax in ~/.netrc due to
lack of standards & specs. It’s a messy state of affairs which is documented
here:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/netkit-ftp/+bug/1976341

The problem at hand:

When a password /contains/ quotes, such as the following password:

  compl3x'p4SS"w0rd%here

FTP & Fetchmail both require that password to be entered in .netrc using
bash-style quoting, as follows:

  compl3x"'"p4SS'"w0rd%here'

That password must be entered with all those extra quotes when the password
itself contains quotes, and FTP or Fetchmail will use that record.  The
problem is wget has a noisey parser which parses the `.netrc` file even when
no credentials are needed for the fetch. The parser then complains about a
.netrc record for which the syntax is for a different application.

Yes, it sucks that there is no standard spec and that different apps expect a
different password syntax.  I believe FTP was the first app to use .netrc and
so the FTP syntax style should be at least respected by the parser as far as
announcing syntax errors to the user.

The wget version is 1.21. I chose “trunk” on the pulldown because 1.20 is
the latest in the list.







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