diff options
| author | Kris Kennaway <kris@FreeBSD.org> | 2000-01-11 07:46:33 +0000 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Kris Kennaway <kris@FreeBSD.org> | 2000-01-11 07:46:33 +0000 |
| commit | 3aa5f62f030917e219638b2bcf18e3c58532556c (patch) | |
| tree | 2d165a51ddf99c1ae8200014db3c80e9a391c65a | |
| parent | fac8edac5e1d7ef65495007fea4ff3e72184cac5 (diff) | |
Notes
| -rw-r--r-- | usr.sbin/ctm/ctm/ctm.1 | 28 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | usr.sbin/ctm/ctm_rmail/ctm_rmail.1 | 47 |
2 files changed, 51 insertions, 24 deletions
diff --git a/usr.sbin/ctm/ctm/ctm.1 b/usr.sbin/ctm/ctm/ctm.1 index 4656301c11ba..d51bbc22bf4c 100644 --- a/usr.sbin/ctm/ctm/ctm.1 +++ b/usr.sbin/ctm/ctm/ctm.1 @@ -222,7 +222,33 @@ Pathnames can be selected for CTM's consideration using the option. .El - +.Pp +.Sh SECURITY +.Pp +CTM is an +.Bf Em +INSECURE PROTOCOL +.Ef +- there is no authentication performed that the +changes applied to the source code were sent by a +trusted party, and so care should be taken if the +CTM deltas are obtained via an unauthenticated +medium such as email. +It is a relatively simple matter for an attacker +to forge a CTM delta to replace or precede the +legitimate one and insert malicious code into your +source tree. +If the legitimate delta is somehow prevented from +arriving, this will go unnoticed until a later +delta attempts to touch the same file, at which +point the MD5 checksum will fail. +.Pp +A future version of +.Fx +may solve this problem by authenticating CTM +deltas using cryptographic signatures, but in the +mean time it is strongly recommended that you +obtain the CTM deltas via FTP, and not via email. .Sh ENVIRONMENT .Ev TMPDIR, if set to a pathname, will cause ctm to use that pathname diff --git a/usr.sbin/ctm/ctm_rmail/ctm_rmail.1 b/usr.sbin/ctm/ctm_rmail/ctm_rmail.1 index 77a670baab19..49d60a664be7 100644 --- a/usr.sbin/ctm/ctm_rmail/ctm_rmail.1 +++ b/usr.sbin/ctm/ctm_rmail/ctm_rmail.1 @@ -364,30 +364,31 @@ to execute .Xr ctm on the (non-FreeBSD) machine that this example was taken from. .Sh SECURITY -If you automatically take your mail and pass it to a file tree patcher, you -might think you are handing the keys to your system to the crackers! Happily, -the window for mischief is quite small. -.Nm ctm_rmail -is careful to write only to the directories given to it (by not believing any -.Dq / -characters in the delta name), and the latest -.Xr ctm -disallows absolute pathnames and -.Dq \&\.\. -in files it manipulates, so the worst you -could lose are a few source tree files (recoverable from your deltas). -Since -.Xr ctm -requires that a -.Xr md5 -checksum match before it touches a file, only fellow -source recipients would be able to generate a fake delta, and they're such -nice folk that they wouldn't even think of it! :-) .Pp -Even this possibility could be removed by using cryptographic signatures. -A possible future enhancement would be to use -.Nm PGP -to provide a secure wrapper. +CTM is an +.Bf Em +INSECURE PROTOCOL +.Ef +- there is no authentication performed that the +changes applied to the source code were sent by a +trusted party, and so care should be taken if the +CTM deltas are obtained via an unauthenticated +medium such as email. +It is a relatively simple matter for an attacker +to forge a CTM delta to replace or precede the +legitimate one and insert malicious code into your +source tree. +If the legitimate delta is somehow prevented from +arriving, this will go unnoticed until a later +delta attempts to touch the same file, at which +point the MD5 checksum will fail. +.Pp +A future version of +.Fx +may solve this problem by authenticating CTM +deltas using cryptographic signatures, but in the +mean time it is strongly recommended that you +obtain the CTM deltas via FTP, and not via email. .\" This next request is for sections 1, 6, 7 & 8 only .Sh ENVIRONMENT If deltas are to be applied then |
