Re: Call for Community Feedback: Guidance on Reporting Protocol Vulnerabilities

Michael Thomas <mike@mtcc.com> Wed, 28 October 2020 16:23 UTC

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Subject: Re: Call for Community Feedback: Guidance on Reporting Protocol Vulnerabilities
To: Roman Danyliw <rdd@cert.org>, "ietf@ietf.org" <ietf@ietf.org>
References: <5081794697df44d8bd76b675cf08dc23@cert.org> <09B0A1A1-6534-4A44-A162-9962FFF8D8B8@cisco.com> <362d68dd6117452f925322f8180de423@cert.org> <B864FFAE-3E3E-4CEF-B832-4552C8BAE70B@cisco.com> <28e48db9700d49dd97dc0023761a8906@cert.org> <0E4F9F37-6907-496F-BBCA-112FE6CA75FB@cisco.com> <608e7b38-57a6-df5f-d0ea-9ddb666a6e3f@mtcc.com> <7f55408ce3e84c93b22f69765deed892@cert.org>
From: Michael Thomas <mike@mtcc.com>
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Date: Wed, 28 Oct 2020 09:23:31 -0700
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On 10/28/20 8:51 AM, Roman Danyliw wrote:
>
> [Roman] I do not believe the proposal or (defending Eliot’s) language 
> above makes this assumption, unless you are specifically reacting to 
> the words “we very much welcome your contribution.” This proposal will 
> not and isn’t intended to address authors and WG being willing to 
> accept feedback from security researchers.  This approach to 
> vulnerability validation and remediation certainly a crucial issue, 
> but a bit distinct from providing clearer guidance on reporting.  That 
> said, there is definitely interplay between poorly handled 
> validation/remediation process (e.g., untimely, unappreciative, not 
> curious, hostile) to future willingness to report.
>

Heh, yeah, "we very much welcome..." is painting a rosier picture than 
they are likely to get :)


> The thing about security flaws in particular is they can be very 
> subtle and hard to explain. It took me several readings of the DNS 
> Race flaw to get the jist of it years ago, and that was written up by 
> Vixie after the fact to explain it. The front line is going to be 
> considerably messier since the reporter is not likely an expert in 
> every aspect of the protocol and may get some things right and some 
> things wrong. The wrong things can then be used to dismiss the problem 
> wholesale, especially with the authors who have built in bias.
>
> [Roman] Completely agree.  IMO, that’s why relying on a lightly staff 
> triage alias might not dramatically improve the state of affairs.  The 
> deep expertise is going to be in the original WG or follow-on groups.  
> However, this routing function to get the information to the right 
> place is still a different issue than the validation process of this 
> vulnerability (agreeing it is actually an issue).
>
Yeah, I completely agree that it's the working group that ultimately 
must agree and often figure out the fix assuming that there isn't an 
obvious one.


> Don't a lot of working groups have security area liasons these days? 
> People who don't have a stake in the outcome, per se? Maybe that's 
> where you want to route this.
>
> [Roman] To my knowledge, formal security area liaisons are not common 
> practice across WG, unless explicitly requested. I would characterize 
> such formal arrangements as fairly rare.  More common are requests for 
> early Security Directorate (SECDIR) reviews and trying to entice those 
> with security experience to participate in WGs that feel they need 
> that review.  Likewise, there has been an informal push in recent 
> years to include language related to security in charters (which may 
> have helped only a little bit in identifying concerns and need for 
> help early in a work’s lifecycle).
>

I seem to recall seeing security area reviews as the document is winding 
toward last call, but it's been a long time since I've really 
participated more than just cursorily. Part of why I chimed in is 
because i'm part of the outside-looking-in kind of crowd this seems to 
be addressing. I probably know more than your average security 
researcher about ietf process, culture etc, but it's not my $DAYJOB by 
any means and i'm pretty clueless about process archana.

The other part of this is that in my two experiences, it wasn't THIS IS 
WRONG YOU MUST FIX!!! It was "is there a problem here? can somebody 
explain to me why it isn't?" I expect that most credible submissions are 
going to be more like the latter than the former, but even those were 
met with either hostility or indifference. Assuming it's been filtered 
to being a credible concern, it seems to me that it ought to be 
independently validated (or not), and better with somebody who doesn't 
have a stake in the rfc (authors, participants) who aren't eager to open 
pandora's box. At the point somebody with known clue can vouch that 
there's a good probability there's some there there, it become much 
harder for the working group and authors to ignore.

Mike