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<tbody valign="top"> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">GLEP:</th><td class="field-body">14</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Title:</th><td class="field-body">security updates based on GLSA</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Version:</th><td class="field-body">$Revision: $</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Last-Modified:</th><td class="field-body"><a class="reference" href="http://www.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/xml/htdocs/proj/en/glep/glep-0014.txt?cvsroot=gentoo">$Date: $</a></td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Author:</th><td class="field-body">Marius Mauch <genone at genone.de>,</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Status:</th><td class="field-body">Draft</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Type:</th><td class="field-body">Standards Track</td> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Content-Type:</th><td class="field-body"><a class="reference" href="glep-0002.html">text/x-rst</a></td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Created:</th><td class="field-body">18 Aug 2003</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Post-History:</th><td class="field-body">22-Aug-2003, 24-Aug-2003</td> |
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</tr> |
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</tbody> |
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</table> |
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<hr /> |
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<div class="contents topic" id="contents"> |
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<p class="topic-title"><a name="contents">Contents</a></p> |
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<ul class="simple"> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#abstract" id="id2" name="id2">Abstract</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#motivation" id="id3" name="id3">Motivation</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#proposed-change" id="id4" name="id4">Proposed change</a><ul> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#update-tool" id="id5" name="id5">Update tool</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#glsa-format" id="id6" name="id6">GLSA format</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#glsa-release-process" id="id7" name="id7">GLSA release process</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#portage-changes" id="id8" name="id8">Portage changes</a></li> |
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</ul> |
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</li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#rationale" id="id9" name="id9">Rationale</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#implementation" id="id10" name="id10">Implementation</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#backwards-compatibility" id="id11" name="id11">Backwards compatibility</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#copyright" id="id12" name="id12">Copyright</a></li> |
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</ul> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section" id="abstract"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id2" name="abstract">Abstract</a></h1> |
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<p>There is currently no automatic way to check a Gentoo system for identified |
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security holes or auto-apply security fixes. This GLEP proposes a way to deal |
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with this issue</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section" id="motivation"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id3" name="motivation">Motivation</a></h1> |
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<p>Automatic checking for security updates is a often requested feature for Gentoo. |
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Implementing it will enable users to fix security holes without reading every |
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security announcement. It's also a feature that is often required in enterprise |
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environments.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section" id="proposed-change"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id4" name="proposed-change">Proposed change</a></h1> |
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<div class="section" id="update-tool"> |
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id5" name="update-tool">Update tool</a></h2> |
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<p>The coding part of this GLEP is a update tool that reads a GLSA, verifies its |
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GPG signature, checks if the system is affected by it and executes one of the |
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following actions, depending on user preferences:</p> |
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<ul class="simple"> |
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<li>run all steps necessary to fix the security hole, including package updates and |
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daemon restarts.</li> |
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<li>instruct the user how to fix the security hole.</li> |
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<li>print the GLSA so the user can get more information if desired.</li> |
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</ul> |
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<p>Once this tool is implemented and well tested it can be integrated into portage. |
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A prototype <a class="reference" href="#implementation">implementation</a> for this tool exists.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section" id="glsa-format"> |
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id6" name="glsa-format">GLSA format</a></h2> |
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<p>The GLSA format needs to be specified, I suggest using XML for that to simplify |
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parsing and later extensions. See <a class="reference" href="#implementation">implementation</a> for a sample DTD. The format |
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has to be compatible with the update tool of course. If necessary a converter |
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tool or an editor could be written for people not comfortable with XML. |
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Every GLSA has to be GPG signed by the responsible developer, who has to be |
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a member of the security herd.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section" id="glsa-release-process"> |
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id7" name="glsa-release-process">GLSA release process</a></h2> |
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<p>Additional to sending the GLSA to the gentoo-announce mailing list it has to be |
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stored on a HTTP/FTP server and in the portage tree. I'd suggest a script should |
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be used to release a GLSA that will:</p> |
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<ul class="simple"> |
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<li>check the GLSA for correctness</li> |
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<li>sign the GLSA with the developers GPG key</li> |
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<li>send a mail to gentoo-announce with the XML GLSA and a plaintext version attached</li> |
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<li>upload it to www.gentoo.org/glsa (or wherever they should be uploaded)</li> |
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<li>put it on the rsync server</li> |
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<li>notify the moderators on the forums to make an announcement</li> |
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</ul> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section" id="portage-changes"> |
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id8" name="portage-changes">Portage changes</a></h2> |
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<p>Until the <a class="reference" href="#update-tool">update tool</a> is integrated into portage there will be no code changes |
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to portage. The update tool might require a few new configuration options, these |
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could be placed in make.conf or another config file in /etc/portage.</p> |
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</div> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section" id="rationale"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id9" name="rationale">Rationale</a></h1> |
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<p>The lack of automated security updates for Gentoo is one of the most often requested |
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features for portage as it is one of the standard features of other distributions. |
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As Gentoo already provides GLSAs for important security bugs it is only natural |
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to use these to implement this feature.</p> |
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<p>To parse a GLSA in a program the format needs to be specified and a parser has |
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to be written. I suggest the use of XML for future GLSAs for the following reasons:</p> |
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<ul class="simple"> |
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<li>can be parsed and validated with existing libraries</li> |
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<li>easy to extend while maintaining backwards compatibility</li> |
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<li>tools can convert XML GLSAs in other formats, the other direction would be harder</li> |
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<li>websites can use XSLT to markup GLSAs</li> |
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</ul> |
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<p>Putting the GLSAs in the portage tree allows all users to check their systems |
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for security updates without taking more actions and simplifies later integration |
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of the update tool into portage. For security minded persons the GLSAs are |
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available on a HTTP server to ease the load of the rsync servers.</p> |
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<p>To verify the signatures of the GLSAs the public keys of the developers should be |
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available in the portage tree and on the HTTP server. The verification is necessary |
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to prevent exploits by fake GLSAs.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section" id="implementation"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id10" name="implementation">Implementation</a></h1> |
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<p>A prototype implementation (including the update tool, a DTD and a sample |
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XMLified GLSA) exists at <a class="reference" href="http://gentoo.devel-net.org/glsa/">http://gentoo.devel-net.org/glsa/</a> . This GLEP is based |
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on that implementation, though it can be changed or rewritten if necessary. |
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According to portage developers there is also already some support for this in |
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portage.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section" id="backwards-compatibility"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id11" name="backwards-compatibility">Backwards compatibility</a></h1> |
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<p>The current <a class="reference" href="#glsa-release-process">GLSA release process</a> needs to be replaced with this proposal. It |
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would be nice if old GLSAs would be transformed into XML as well, but that is |
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not a requirement for this GLEP.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section" id="copyright"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id12" name="copyright">Copyright</a></h1> |
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<p>This document has been placed in the public domain.</p> |
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</div> |
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</div> |
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