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find: Single File

 
 3.3.1 Single File
 -----------------
 
 Here is how to run a command on one file at a time.
 
  -- Action: -execdir command ;
      Execute COMMAND; true if COMMAND returns zero.  'find' takes all
      arguments after '-execdir' to be part of the command until an
      argument consisting of ';' is reached.  It replaces the string '{}'
      by the current file name being processed everywhere it occurs in
      the command.  Both of these constructions need to be escaped (with
      a '\') or quoted to protect them from expansion by the shell.  The
      command is executed in the directory which 'find' was searching at
      the time the action was executed (that is, {} will expand to a file
      in the local directory).
 
      For example, to compare each C header file in or below the current
      directory with the file '/tmp/master':
 
           find . -name '*.h' -execdir diff -u '{}' /tmp/master ';'
 
    If you use '-execdir', you must ensure that the '$PATH' variable
 contains only absolute directory names.  Having an empty element in
 '$PATH' or explicitly including '.' (or any other non-absolute name) is
 insecure.  GNU find will refuse to run if you use '-execdir' and it
 thinks your '$PATH' setting is insecure.  For example:
 
 '/bin:/usr/bin:'
      Insecure; empty path element (at the end)
 ':/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin'
      Insecure; empty path element (at the start)
 '/bin:/usr/bin::/usr/local/bin'
      Insecure; empty path element (two colons in a row)
 '/bin:/usr/bin:.:/usr/local/bin'
      Insecure; '.' is a path element ('.' is not an absolute file name)
 '/bin:/usr/bin:sbin:/usr/local/bin'
      Insecure; 'sbin' is not an absolute file name
 '/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin'
      Secure (if you control the contents of those directories and any
      access to them)
 
    Another similar option, '-exec' is supported, but is less secure.
 ⇒Security Considerations, for a discussion of the security
 problems surrounding '-exec'.
 
  -- Action: -exec command ;
      This insecure variant of the '-execdir' action is specified by
      POSIX. Like '-execdir command ;' it is true if zero is returned by
      COMMAND.  The main difference is that the command is executed in
      the directory from which 'find' was invoked, meaning that '{}' is
      expanded to a relative path starting with the name of one of the
      starting directories, rather than just the basename of the matched
      file.
 
      While some implementations of 'find' replace the '{}' only where it
      appears on its own in an argument, GNU 'find' replaces '{}'
      wherever it appears.
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