From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with archive (Exim 4.43) id 1Mh0iR-00079Z-9B for mharc-grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:38:03 -0400 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1Mh0iI-00078k-60 for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:37:54 -0400 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1Mh0iC-00076g-JY for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:37:52 -0400 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=59393 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1Mh0iA-00076U-K9 for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:37:47 -0400 Received: from xvm-190-8.ghst.net ([217.70.190.8]:49883 helo=aybabtu.com) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS-1.0:RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1Mh0iA-0004e3-5u for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:37:46 -0400 Received: from [192.168.10.10] (helo=localhost) by aybabtu.com with esmtp (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1Mh0i5-0002Nr-Kn for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:37:41 +0200 Received: from rmh by localhost with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1Mh0i5-0003ur-4C for grub-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:37:41 +0200 Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:37:41 +0200 From: Robert Millan To: The development of GRUB 2 Message-ID: <20090828123741.GA15030@thorin> References: <20090823101446.GA4130@thorin> <20090824223611.GB25093@thorin> <1251210936.2668.19.camel@fz.local> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: Organization: free as in freedom X-Message-Flag: Worried about Outlook viruses? Switch to Thunderbird! www.mozilla.com/thunderbird X-Debbugs-No-Ack: true User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.18 (2008-05-17) X-detected-operating-system: by monty-python.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6 (newer, 3) Subject: Re: Re[2]: 'password' command in GRUB 2? X-BeenThere: grub-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: The development of GRUB 2 List-Id: The development of GRUB 2 List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:37:57 -0000 On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 07:32:37PM +0200, Vladimir 'phcoder' Serbinenko wrote: > On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 1:51 PM, Michal Suchanek wrote: > > 2009/8/25 Vladimir 'phcoder' Serbinenko : > >>> However, that CVE is about grub leaving its passwords in memory. > >>> Wiping memory used by grub should be fast - orders of magnitude faster > >>> than loading the OS kernel for example. > >> Actually this specific report is about BIOS leaving its keyboard > >> buffer - you can find BIOS password there too. As BIOS is proprietary > >> firmware whatever we do we can never ensure it being secure. Even the > > > > Even if many BIOSes leave their password there it's not reason to be as sloppy. > > > Let me clarify my position: > 1) If someone submits a patch with clean (E.g. shredding grub_free, > ensure there is no memory leak and a shredder for BIOS buffer) then I > would recomment to merge this patch > 2) This is a considerable amount of work and not a priority. > 3) It's not a reason to hold the release root's ability to read GRUB password from physical memory is already obvious by the fact that it is stored in clear text in grub.cfg. When we support password hashing, this should be contemplated as well. But for now, I agree with Vladimir that this isn't a reason to hold the release. -- Robert Millan The DRM opt-in fallacy: "Your data belongs to us. We will decide when (and how) you may access your data; but nobody's threatening your freedom: we still allow you to remove your data and not access it at all."