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GLEP: 14 |
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Title: security updates based on GLSA |
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g2boojum |
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Version: $Revision: 1.1 $ |
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Last-Modified: $Date: 2003/08/22 15:00:55 $ |
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g2boojum |
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Author: Marius Mauch <genone@genone.de>, |
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Status: Draft |
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Type: Standards Track |
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Content-Type: text/x-rst |
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Created: 18 Aug 2003 |
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g2boojum |
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Post-History: 22-Aug-2003 |
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Abstract |
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======== |
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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 |
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Motivation |
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========== |
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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. |
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Proposed change |
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=============== |
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Update tool |
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----------- |
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The coding part of this GLEP is a update tool that reads a GLSA, checks if |
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the system is affected by it and executes one of the following actions, depending |
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on user preferences: |
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- run all steps necessary to fix the security hole, including package updates and |
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daemon restarts. |
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- instruct the user how to fix the security hole. |
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- print the GLSA so the user can get more information if desired. |
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Once this tool is implemented and well tested it can be integrated into portage. |
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A prototype `implementation`_ for this tool exists. |
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GLSA format |
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----------- |
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The GLSA format needs to be specified, I suggest using XML for that to simplify |
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parsing and later extensions. See `implementation`_ 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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GLSA release process |
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-------------------- |
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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: |
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- check the GLSA for correctness |
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- send a mail to gentoo-announce with the XML GLSA and a plaintext version attached |
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- upload it to www.gentoo.org/glsa (or wherever they should be uploaded) |
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- put it on the rsync server |
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- notify the moderators on the forums to make an announcement |
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Portage changes |
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--------------- |
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Until the `update tool`_ 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. |
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Rationale |
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========= |
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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. |
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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: |
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- can be parsed and validated with existing libraries |
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- easy to extend while maintaining backwards compatibility |
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- tools can convert XML GLSAs in other formats, the other direction would be harder |
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- websites can use XSLT to markup GLSAs |
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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. |
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Implementation |
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============== |
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A prototype implementation (including the update tool, a DTD and a sample |
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XMLified GLSA) exists at http://gentoo.devel-net.org/glsa/ . 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. |
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Backwards compatibility |
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======================= |
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The current `GLSA release process`_ 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. |
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Copyright |
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========= |
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This document has been placed in the public domain. |
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