Example
In the original example of a confused deputy, there is a program that provides compilation services to other programs. Normally, the client program specifies the name of the input and output files, and the server is given the same access to those files that the client has.
The compiler service is pay-per-use, and the compiler program has access to a file (dubbed BILL) where it stores billing information. Clients obviously cannot write into the billing file.
Now suppose a client calls the service and specifies BILL as the name of the output file. The service opens the output file. Even though the client did not have access to that file, the service does, so the open succeeds, and the server writes the compilation output to the file, overwriting it, and thus destroying the billing information.
Read more about this topic: Confused Deputy Problem
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