[Python-Dev] "Sort attacks" (was Re: Hash collision security issue (now public))

[Tim Peters]

I can't find it now, but I believe Marc-Andre mentioned that CPython's
list.sort() was vulnerable to attack too, because of its O(n log n)
worst-case behavior.

I wouldn't worry about that, because nobody could stir up anguish
about it by writing a paper ;-)

1. O(n log n) is enormously more forgiving than O(n**2).

2. An attacker need not be clever at all:  O(n log n) is not only
sort()'s worst case, it's also its _expected_ case when fed randomly
ordered data.

3. It's provable that no comparison-based sorting algorithm can have
better worst-case asymptotic behavior when fed randomly ordered data.

So if anyone whines about this, tell 'em to go do something useful instead :-)

still-solving-problems-not-in-need-of-attention-ly y'rs  - tim