Re: [RFD] linux-firmware key arrangement for firmware signing

Greg Kroah-Hartman
2015-05-21T06:14:57Z

On Thu, May 21, 2015 at 08:41:02AM +0300, Petko Manolov wrote:
> > I too don't understand this need to sign something that you don't really know
> > what it is from some other company, just to send it to a separate device that
> > is going to do whatever it wants with it if it is signed or not.
>
> This is not the point. What you need to know is _where_ the firmware came from,
> not _what_ it does once it reach your system. If you don't care about such
> things, just ignore the signature. :)

Ok, but how do we know "where"? Who is going to start signing and
attesting to the validity of all of the firmware images in the
linux-firmware tree suddenly? Why is it the kernel's job to attest this
"where"? Shouldn't your distro/manufacturer be doing that as part of
their "put this file on this disk" responsibilities (i.e. the package
manager?)

What is verifying a firmware image signature in the kernel attesting
that isn't already known in userspace?

thanks,

greg k-h