Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 08:41:47 +0000 (UTC) From: Gabor Pali <pgj@FreeBSD.org> To: doc-committers@freebsd.org, svn-doc-all@freebsd.org, svn-doc-head@freebsd.org Subject: svn commit: r42962 - head/en_US.ISO8859-1/htdocs/news/status Message-ID: <201310150841.r9F8flOM037796@svn.freebsd.org>
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Author: pgj Date: Tue Oct 15 08:41:46 2013 New Revision: 42962 URL: http://svnweb.freebsd.org/changeset/doc/42962 Log: - Update the random(4) 2013Q3 entry Submitted by: markm Modified: head/en_US.ISO8859-1/htdocs/news/status/report-2013-07-2013-09.xml Modified: head/en_US.ISO8859-1/htdocs/news/status/report-2013-07-2013-09.xml ============================================================================== --- head/en_US.ISO8859-1/htdocs/news/status/report-2013-07-2013-09.xml Tue Oct 15 00:37:17 2013 (r42961) +++ head/en_US.ISO8859-1/htdocs/news/status/report-2013-07-2013-09.xml Tue Oct 15 08:41:46 2013 (r42962) @@ -949,7 +949,7 @@ </project> <project cat='kern'> - <title>Updating <tt>random(4)</tt></title> + <title>Reworking <tt>random(4)</tt></title> <contact> <person> @@ -978,16 +978,55 @@ </contact> <body> - <p>Update of <tt>random(4)</tt> to account for recent revelations, - and make more extensible, is in progress.</p> + <p>Random numbers require a lot more thought and preparation that + would naively appear to be the case. For simulations, number + sequences that are repeatable but sufficiently disordered are + often what is required to achieve required experimental + duplication ability, and many programmers are familiar with + these. For cryptography, it is essential that an attacker not + be able to predict or guess the output sequence, thus giving a + source of security-critical secret material for uses such as + passwords or "key material".</p> + + <p>&os;'s random number generator, available as the pseudo-file + <tt>/dev/random</tt> produces unpredictable numbers intended for + cryptographic use, and is thus a Cryptograpically-Secured + Pseudo-Random Number Generator, or CSPRNG. The security is + given by careful design of the output generator (based on a + block cipher) and input entropy accumulation queues. The latter + uses hashes to accumulate stochastic information harvested from + various places in the kernel to provide highly unpredictable + input to the generator. The algorithm for doing this, Yarrow, + by Schneier et al, may be found by web search.</p> + + <p>&os;'s CSPRNG also allowed for certain stochastic sources, + deemed to be "high-quality", to directly supply the + <tt>random(4)</tt> device without going through Yarrow. With + recent revelations over possible government surveillance and + involvement in the selection of these "high-quality" sources, it + is felt that they can no longer be trusted, and must therefore + also be processed though Yarrow.</p> + + <p>The matter was discussed at various levels of formality at the + Cambridge Developer Summit in August, and at EuroBSDcon 2013 in + September.</p> + + <p>This work is now done, and the <tt>random(4)</tt> CSPRNG is now + brought to a more paranoid, modern standard of distrust with + regard to its entropy sources. Infrastructure work was also + done to facilitate certain entropy-source choices for the + convenience of the system administrators.</p> + + <p>Future work is now going ahead with the implementation of the + Fortuna algorithm by Ferguson and Schneier as an upgrade or + alternative to Yarrow. Initially a choice will be presented, + and decisions on the future of the CSPRNG processing algorithms + in use will be made in the future as needs arise.</p> </body> <help> - <task>Fortuna is to be an alternative for Yarrow in FreeBSD 11.x.</task> - <task>Yarrow may be deprecated in a couple of years.</task> - <task>FIPS 800-90b support is planned.</task> - <task>A full, in-depth review of entropy is going to be done with - external help.</task> + <task>Implement FIPS 800-90b support.</task> + <task>A full, in-depth review of entropy.</task> </help> </project>
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