Subj : eTransfer msg section, pretty lame
To   : All
From : August Abolins
Date : Tue Nov 16 2021 06:52 pm

An eTransfer typically allows for entering a short message of  
up to 400 chars.  For a recent eTransfer, I found it important  
to enter something to reference the billing statement that I am  
paying for.  My typical message was something like this:

    This payment is for the "60-90 days" portion of the
    statement dated 11/15/21.

But that triggered an error message:

"There appears to be an error! All errors must be corrected
before continuing."

    Please enter a valid message. It must not exceed 400
    characters and contain only letters, numbers, and the
    characters . ! @ / ; : , ' = $ ^ ? * ( ). It must not
    contain the words http:, https:, www., javascript,
    function, return.

In this case it seemed that the quote char and the dash was not  
on the allowed list.  Now, I'm just wondering WHY would a quote  
or dash char need to be treated differently and excluded from a  
valid set?

Likewise, why would even a simple word like function or return  
be a problem for a message block?   When the system dedicates a  
400 char block for a message, why can't the system simply treat  
that content as a benign group of chars and ignore any  
"functionality" implied with http: https: or www, etc?

Could there be hacking vectors that haven't been solved in the  
eTransfer system?

--- OpenXP 5.0.50
 * Origin:  (2:221/1.58)

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