Re: [GIT PULL] Load keys from signed PE binaries

Matthew Garrett
2013-02-26T02:33:42Z

On Mon, Feb 25, 2013 at 04:59:55PM -0800, Greg KH wrote:

> Wait right here. This is NOT mandated by UEFI, nor by anyone else. It
> might be a nice thing that some people and companies want to implement,
> but please don't think that some external entity is requiring that Linux
> implement this, that is not true.

Oh, come on Greg. Allowing unsigned modules allows loading arbitrary
code into the kernel, and allowing arbitrary code into the kernel means
that the kernel can be used to directly boot a modified copy of the
Windows kernel. Avoiding that scenario is *explicitly* mandated by
Microsoft. We can avoid it by either not using Microsoft as the root of
trust or by requiring explicit key installation during the OS install
process, but both of those make OS installation more difficult. If we
want Linux to Just Work out of the box on Microsoft-certified hardware,
this is one of the rules we have to live by.

--
Matthew Garrett | mjg59@srcf.ucam.org