Re: [openpgp] Tag indicating a MIME content

[David Shaw <[e-mail]>]

> On Jul 7, 2016, at 4:14 AM, Werner Koch <[e-mail]> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I recall that an indication for a MIME content has been proposed many
> years ago but might have been forgotten.  Thus I propose this small
> change for 4880bis:
> 
> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
> diff --git a/middle.mkd b/middle.mkd
> index 033f11f..5519be3 100644
> --- a/middle.mkd
> +++ b/middle.mkd
> @@ -2156,7 +2156,8 @@ ## {5.9} Literal Data Packet (Tag 11)
>     may need line ends converted to local form, or other text-mode
>     changes.  The tag 'u' (0x75) means the same as 't', but also
>     indicates that implementation believes that the literal data
> -    contains UTF-8 text.
> +    contains UTF-8 text.  If it is a 'm' (0x6d), then it contains a
> +    MIME message body part [](#RFC2045).

I am in favor of this (I vaguely recall when it was originally suggested).  I do have one suggestion though - this field (like the literal packet filename and timestamp) isn't covered by a signature, so can be changed invisibly in transit.  That's not news, but I think it might be worth calling that out explicitly to avoid future surprise.

Perhaps something like "Note that the formatting octet, the file name, and the date field of the literal packet are not included in a signature hash and thus are not protected against tampering in a signed document."

David