From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with archive (Exim 4.43) id 1JOFF6-0000uO-FB for mharc-grub-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:41:24 -0500 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1JOFF4-0000qZ-S3 for grub-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:41:22 -0500 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1JOFF3-0000lx-8G for grub-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:41:22 -0500 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1JOFF3-0000lZ-3f for grub-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:41:21 -0500 Received: from mute.marlboro.edu ([206.192.68.75]) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1JOFF3-0004tL-36 for grub-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:41:21 -0500 Received: from akbar.marlboro.edu (akbar.marlboro.edu [10.1.2.5]) by mute.marlboro.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id C93561F918F for ; Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:41:17 -0500 (EST) Received: from xyz.marlboro.edu (xyz.marlboro.edu [10.1.2.29]) by akbar.marlboro.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id C671311E55E for ; Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:41:17 -0500 (EST) Received: from [10.1.4.164] (mdhcp164.marlboro.edu [10.1.4.164]) by xyz.marlboro.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id 75B523AC12C for ; Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:44:15 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <47AF293F.8070804@isaac.cedarswampstudios.org> Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:41:35 -0500 From: Isaac Dupree User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.6 (X11/20071022) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: The development of GRUB 2 References: <20080210131656.GA4168@thorin> <47AF0282.4000307@isaac.cedarswampstudios.org> <20080210152226.GB7404@thorin> In-Reply-To: <20080210152226.GB7404@thorin> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Marlboro-MailScanner: Found to be clean, clean X-Marlboro-MailScanner-From: id@isaac.cedarswampstudios.org X-Marlboro-MailScanner-Information: Please contact techsupport@marlboro.edu for more information X-Marlboro-SpamCheck: not spam (whitelisted), SpamAssassin (not cached, score=-4.399, required 6, autolearn=not spam, ALL_TRUSTED -1.80, BAYES_00 -2.60) X-MailScanner-From: id@isaac.cedarswampstudios.org X-detected-kernel: by monty-python.gnu.org: Linux 2.6, seldom 2.4 (older, 4) Subject: Re: [PATCH] read --echo=[yes|no|wildcard] 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: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 16:41:23 -0000 Robert Millan wrote: > On Sun, Feb 10, 2008 at 08:56:18AM -0500, Isaac Dupree wrote: >> Robert Millan wrote: >>> Adds a parameter to define echoing behaviour in read. Then one can use >>> --echo=no or --echo=wildcard to make it suitable for reading passwords. >> I wonder how suitable it is for passwords -- is the memory always erased >> before jumping to e.g. Linux? (and is it important to hide it from the >> prying eyes of the root system? Probably...) > > Why? This suggests that the Linux image you just booted is not trusted, which > I find a bit strange. well, suppose it runs for a few months, doesn't happen to overwrite that memory, and then someone hacks in and gets root access (unpatched security flaws can happen) and then reads the raw memory. Then the local boot **and the password itself** might be unknowingly compromised (rather than just probably a hash of the password). (plus you might be booting Windows ^_^, or anything really.) It's generally good practice, I think... that GnuPG tries to do, for example? (I could be remembering wrong) -Isaac