PuTTY wish cmdline-password-file

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summary: Command-line option -pwfile to read a password from a file
class: wish: This is a request for an enhancement.
fixed-in: 44ee7b9e765f7af80d94610c82dbad46c5932ca0 (0.77)

When you use the -pw command-line option to provide a password on the command line, your password is visible to anyone who can see the command line itself (e.g. via the Windows task manager, which can show full command lines with the right configuration).

Now all the tools also support -pwfile as an alternative. Its argument is the name of a text file to read the password from, instead of the password itself. So somebody reading the command line will only learn where your password is kept, not what it is.

We still don't recommend the use of either of these options, in any circumstance where the password actually matters to you. But if you really have no other options, -pwfile is one notch safer than -pw.

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Audit trail for this wish.

(last revision of this bug record was at 2021-12-29 16:30:25 +0000)