Re: [PATCH] docs: spell out limits of security support for qemu-xen

[Doug Goldstein <cardoe@cardoe.com>]

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On 2/25/16 9:43 AM, Stefano Stabellini wrote:

> +++ b/docs/misc/qemu-xen-security
> @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
> +qemu-xen (git://xenbits.xen.org/qemu-xen.git) is only supported for
> +security fixes when used together with the Xen hypervisor and only with
> +a subset of all the possible QEMU emulators. Specifically:

So I'll get my comments on paper here rather than something just
mentioned on IRC. This is exactly why the Xen team should be pushing to
remove as many "in-tree" items as possible. The security surface area of
Xen is huge and statements like this help the CYA factor they don't
completely eliminate the problems of manpower of having to check against
different upstreams if a vulnerability affects you or downstreams doing
something bad causing a security issue for users which ultimately gets
blamed on Xen. There are then further complications where sometimes the
version shipped by Xen isn't an upstream release and so there may be
other vulnerabilities above and beyond what upstream announces.

I urge the Xen maintainers to make it a goal to remove external
libraries and applications (like qemu-xen) from the tree entirely and
recommend the use of the upstream release. I know the concern is testing
but it involves calling out your dependencies just like you do any other
dependency. (e.g. Xen X.Y requires QEMU A.B.C, no guarantees are made
about the compatibility of other versions)

I know Stefano is making an effort with this with Project Raisin and
really that should become the embraced way to stand up a "full" Xen
system from source rather than a hodge podge collection of packages that
are fetched by the Xen build system. This will bring the how developers
use the source packages closer with how many users of distros use Xen
(e.g. a number of distros use upstream QEMU releases instead of qemu-xen).

-- 
Doug Goldstein


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