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From: Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com>
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: ALTER, ASSIGN and labels-as-values
Date: Wed, 29 May 2024 19:10:25 -0700
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Terje Mathisen <terje.mathisen@tmsw.no> writes:

> John Savard wrote:
>
>> The fact that an ALTER GOTO statement can change where a GOTO
>> statement branches - without any indication within the GOTO statement
>> itself that it may have other destinatiions than the primary one -
>> means that this statement is an _obvious_ method of inserting
>> malicious code into the source code of a program.
>>
>> And indeed, given that COBOL is typically used for programs handling
>> financial transactions, I have no doubt that it _was_ so used.
>>
>> I find this to be an example of incredibly irresponsible language
>> design.
>
> How is this different from having jump/call tables in any other
> language, or just a standalone trampoline/indirect jump?
>
> Under the hood, more or less the exact same thing happens:  If you can
> reach and modify the jump table, then you can insert your new
> functionality/malware before branching back to the original target.

The ALTER facility, or any more-or-less equivalent features in other
languages, is a high-level language version of self-modifying code.
Self-modifying code is bad;  ALTER and friends aren't any better,
regardless of whether they are easy to implement.