#javascript #security

Let's say you are following a guide on the internet and it provides a command for installing a package.

sudo apt install package

Without a second thought, you copy the command and quickly paste it in your terminal. Now imagine there was a different command in your clipboard, like this one:

sudo rm -rf / *do not actually run this command!

This command forcefully and recursively deletes all your files and folders starting from the root directory. If you paste text containing a newline character in your terminal, it will automatically be executed. If your terminal has elevated permissions, because you already executed a sudo command in the same session, it will not ask for your password.

Goodbye precious data!