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Code Block
bgColor#ffcccc
char *filenamefile_name;
FILE *file;

/* initialize filenamefile_name */

if (!fgets(filenamefile_name, sizeof(filenamefile_name), stdin)) {
  /* handle error */
}

if ((file = fopen(filenamefile_name, "wb")) == NULL) {
  /* handle error */
}

/* operate on file */

fclose(file);

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Code Block
bgColor#ccccff
#ifdef O_NOFOLLOW
  #define OPEN_FLAGS O_NOFOLLOW | O_NONBLOCK
#else
  #define OPEN_FLAGS O_NONBLOCK
#endif

/* ... */

struct stat orig_st;
struct stat open_st;
int fd;
int flags;
char *filenamefile_name;

/* initialize filenamefile_name */

if (!fgets(filenamefile_name, sizeof(filenamefile_name), stdin)) {
  /* handle error */
}

if ((lstat(filenamefile_name, &orig_st) != 0) 
 || (!S_ISREG(orig_st.st_mode))) 
{
  /* handle error */
}

/* A TOCTOU race condition exists here, see below */

fd = open(filenamefile_name, OPEN_FLAGS | O_WRONLY);
if (fd == -1) {
  /* handle error */
}

if (fstat(fd, &open_st) != 0) {
  /* handle error */
}

if ((orig_st.st_mode != open_st.st_mode) ||
    (orig_st.st_ino  != open_st.st_ino) ||
    (orig_st.st_dev  != open_st.st_dev)) {
  /* file was tampered with */
}

/* Optional: drop the O_NONBLOCK now that we are sure 
 * this is a good file */
if ((flags = fcntl(fd, F_GETFL)) == -1) {
  /* handle error */
}

if (fcntl(fd, F_SETFL, flags & ~O_NONBLOCK) != 0) {
  /* handle error */
}

/* operate on file */

close(fd);

The above code does contain an intractable TOCTOU race condition; where an attacker can alter the file referenced by filename file_name following the call to lstat() but before the call to open(). The switch will be discovered after the file is opened, but opening the file cannot be prevented in the case where this action itself causes undesired behavior.

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