HOME environmental variable no long preserved with sudo by default

[Brian Murray]

Binary package hint: sudo

As discussed on ubuntu-devel in February https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2011-February/032490.html:

sudo sh -c 'echo $HOME'

no longer returns the current users home directory rather it returns /root. This is a change in behavior from Maverick which kept $HOME.

The following debian bug contains information about why this is happening now - http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=596847. " The HOME and MAIL environment variables are now reset based on the target user's password database entry when the env_reset sudoers option is enabled (which is the case in the default configuration)."

Something should be done to ensure there isn't a regression and that $HOME is preserved by default.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: sudo 1.7.4p4-5ubuntu5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.41-server 2.6.38.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-server x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: btrfs zlib_deflate libcrc32c ufs qnx4 hfsplus hfs minix ntfs vfat msdos fat jfs xfs exportfs reiserfs nls_utf8 isofs nfs lockd fscache nfs_acl auth_rpcgss sunrpc snd_hrtimer binfmt_misc usblp autofs4 dm_crypt snd_emu10k1_synth snd_emux_synth snd_seq_virmidi snd_seq_midi_emul snd_emu10k1 snd_hda_codec_hdmi snd_hda_codec_idt snd_hda_intel snd_ac97_codec snd_hda_codec ac97_bus snd_pcm snd_util_mem snd_hwdep snd_seq_midi snd_rawmidi snd_seq_midi_event snd_seq snd_timer snd_seq_device snd soundcore snd_page_alloc netconsole configfs firewire_sbp2 emu10k1_gp lp gameport parport psmouse serio_raw joydev dcdbas raid10 raid456 async_pq async_xor async_memcpy async_raid6_recov raid6_pq async_tx raid0 multipath linear dm_raid45 xor raid1 hid_logitech ff_memless hid_microsoft usbhid hid usb_storage uas firewire_ohci firewire_core crc_itu_t radeon ahci libahci ttm drm_kms_helper e1000e drm i2c_algo_bit
Architecture: amd64
CheckboxSubmission: fee5e196cb921cbd36888f428b38b488
CheckboxSystem: 2a6f54df59af338184485e85cbcf0d32
Date: Wed Apr 13 11:23:27 2011
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/zsh
SourcePackage: sudo
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to natty on 2011-04-10 (2 days ago)

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

Regression in behavior vs. maverick; the Debian maintainer already tried to fix this once but it appears the fix was incomplete.

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

Testing sudo 1.7.4p4-5ubuntu5 I observed the following which seems correct to me as it matches the behavior on Maverick.

13:01:31 - flash:[/scratch] sudo sh -c 'echo $HOME'
[sudo] password for bdmurray:
/home/bdmurray
13:01:40 - flash:[/scratch] sudo -E sh -c 'echo $HOME'
/home/bdmurray
13:03:14 - flash:[/scratch] sudo -H sh -c 'echo $HOME'
/root
13:03:20 - flash:[/scratch] sudo -i
root@flash:~# echo $HOME
/root

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

I seem to have mispasted the version I tested with:

13:08:28 - flash:[/tmp] apt-cache policy sudo
sudo:
  Installed: 1.7.4p4-5ubuntu6
  Candidate: 1.7.4p4-5ubuntu6
  Version table:
 *** 1.7.4p4-5ubuntu6 0
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.7.4p4-5ubuntu5 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty/main amd64 Packages

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package sudo - 1.7.4p4-5ubuntu6

---------------
sudo (1.7.4p4-5ubuntu6) natty; urgency=low

  * debian/patches/keep_home_by_default.patch: Set HOME in
    initial_keepenv_table. LP: #760140
 -- Steve Langasek <email address hidden> Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:32:25 -0700

[Ｖ字龍(Vdragon) (vdragon)]

I personally believe that the decision of adding this patch is wrong, please refer Bug #1373495.

[Zhang Youfu (zhangyoufu)]

I'm expecting the documented behavior. Please refer Bug #889936