Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 00:36:28 -0500 From: David Noel <david.i.noel@gmail.com> To: Ian Smith <smithi@nimnet.asn.au> Cc: Lowell Gilbert <freebsd-security-local@be-well.ilk.org>, freebsd-security@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Retiring portsnap [was MITM attacks against portsnap and freebsd-update] Message-ID: <CAHAXwYBXz80JXhYRknJQoimzU37ZMPjNJ5E2hn8FD0qL6PhKMw@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <20140414144155.C55844@sola.nimnet.asn.au> References: <CAHAXwYCGkP-o0VvMXj5S8-KNA45aTvy%2BsrjDL_=8-x9Dza5z5Q@mail.gmail.com> <53472B7F.5090001@FreeBSD.org> <CAHAXwYDdxbRimwjvPf%2B5odYUUN4u4rNzdEkEmWwZN97mi1riEg@mail.gmail.com> <53483074.1050100@delphij.net> <CAHAXwYDhxmEwxtBLyZF1R1F8XENsq4FbpzVy89BN8f%2BRYU74KA@mail.gmail.com> <44bnw5uwmm.fsf@lowell-desk.lan> <20140414144155.C55844@sola.nimnet.asn.au>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> Indeed it is not. David's solution - which seems to amount to removing > portsnap and herding the cats at home to DTRT about using svn securely - > relies on other cats being as smart and aware of the ramifications as he > is - a highly questionable proposition especially for the numerous more > naive users that portsnap renders the process of securely upgrading the > ports tree just about as simple and consistent as it can be. On the one hand I do get what you're saying. On the other I don't know that you're fairly characterizing the typical portsnap user. Building ports from source is not something I would think a novice FreeBSD user would do (make can be--and often is--an absolute nightmare!). Rather, I would imagine a novice would be using something like pkgng. > David, perhaps your obvious talent for auditing the portsnap code and > its server-side configuration might be better applied to remedying any > perceived vulnerabilities in conjunction with present and past security > officers and teams? Thanks. I'm happy to, and it's on my to-do list, the only problem is that I'm swamped with other projects and it's been sitting on that list for the past 2 years. It seems to be a similar problem for Colin and the Security Team. I'm hoping that by bringing this bug to the list that someone with more free time will be able to patch it. -David
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?CAHAXwYBXz80JXhYRknJQoimzU37ZMPjNJ5E2hn8FD0qL6PhKMw>