From: Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu>
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2021 17:15:43 +0000 (-0700)
Subject: Doc that dired-do-chmod no longer follows symlinks
X-Git-Tag: emacs-28.0.90~1327
X-Git-Url: http://git.eshelyaron.com/gitweb/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=2c8657f4f63e6d2b6e1d0866dd597bc85b422430;p=emacs.git

Doc that dired-do-chmod no longer follows symlinks

* doc/emacs/dired.texi (Operating on Files):
* etc/NEWS: Document this security precaution.
---

diff --git a/doc/emacs/dired.texi b/doc/emacs/dired.texi
index 680b20c5938..e84ed0f7b66 100644
--- a/doc/emacs/dired.texi
+++ b/doc/emacs/dired.texi
@@ -823,7 +823,9 @@ link.
 Change the mode (also called @dfn{permission bits}) of the specified
 files (@code{dired-do-chmod}).  @var{modespec} can be in octal or
 symbolic notation, like arguments handled by the @command{chmod}
-program.
+program.  This command does not follow symbolic links, so it reports
+an error if you try to change the mode of a symbolic link on a
+platform where such modes are immutable.
 
 @findex dired-do-chgrp
 @kindex G @r{(Dired)}
diff --git a/etc/NEWS b/etc/NEWS
index 588290f433e..07a78216b88 100644
--- a/etc/NEWS
+++ b/etc/NEWS
@@ -909,6 +909,12 @@ time zones will use a form like "+0100" instead of "CET".
 If non-nil, Dired will kill the current buffer when selecting a new
 directory to display.
 
++++
+*** Behavior change on 'dired-do-chmod'.
+As a security precaution, Dired's M command no longer follows symbolic
+links.  Instead, it changes the symbolic link's own mode; this always
+fails on platforms where such modes are immutable.
+
 ---
 *** Behavior change on 'dired-clean-confirm-killing-deleted-buffers'.
 Previously, if 'dired-clean-up-buffers-too' was non-nil, and