getaddrinfo with PF_UNSPEC and /etc/hosts

[Pekka Savola]

On 23 Nov 2001, Ulrich Drepper wrote:
> Ben Collins <bcollins@debian.org> writes:
> 
> > Which is why I said it was a hack, a workaround. It does have to do with
> > security. If you try to connect to "www.sun.com", and the DNS for a
> > domain in your search is hacked,
> 
> If your search is hacked anything can happen.  That's no argument.
> Again, there is no additional risk.

IMO,

There are two basic points for using /etc/hosts:

1) security; as it's statically configured, you don't need to trust DNS to 
give the right answer (think cache poisoning and other attacks).
(note: I don't really see what Ben Collins tried to point out either)

2) reliability: in cases where DNS or network connectivity is off-line, 
there would be no need for lookups for (more or less, in host vs. site 
sense) local addresses.

(Additional note: in case private addresses are used in /etc/hosts (rather
common I think) queryinig them in the global DNS may be undesirable.)

Both of these arguments are broken by current getaddrinfo.

-- 
Pekka Savola                 "Tell me of difficulties surmounted,
Netcore Oy                   not those you stumble over and fall"
Systems. Networks. Security.  -- Robert Jordan: A Crown of Swords