Differences from Standard Lua

LuaSandbox provides a sandboxed environment which differs in some ways from standard Lua 5.1.

Features that are not available

  • dofile(), loadfile(), and the io package, as they allow direct filesystem access. If needed, filesystem access should be done via PHP callbacks.

  • The package package, including require() and module(), as it depends heavily on direct filesystem access. A pure-Lua rewrite such as that used in the MediaWiki Scribunto extension may be used instead.

  • load() and loadstring(), to allow for static analysis of Lua code.

  • print(), since it outputs to standard output. If needed, output should be done via PHP callbacks.

  • Most of the os package, as it allows manipulation of the process and executing of other processes.

    • os.clock(), os.date(), os.difftime(), and os.time() remain available.

  • Most of the debug package, as it allows manipulation of Lua state and metadata in ways that can break sandboxing.

    • debug.traceback() remains available.

  • string.dump(), as it may expose internal data.

  • collectgarbage(), gcinfo(), and the coroutine package have not been reviewed for security.

Features that have been modified

  • pcall() and xpcall() cannot catch certain errors, particularly timeout errors.

  • tostring() does not include pointer addresses.

  • string.match() has been patched to limit the recursion depth and to periodically check for a timeout.

  • math.random() and math.randomseed() are replaced with versions that don't share state with PHP's rand().

  • The Lua 5.2 __pairs and __ipairs metamethods are supported by pairs() and ipairs().

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