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Date:      Sun, 28 Feb 2021 14:23:35 +0200
From:      Toomas Soome <tsoome@me.com>
To:        "dmilith ." <dmilith@gmail.com>
Cc:        Ihor Antonov <ihor@antonovs.family>, Warner Losh <imp@bsdimp.com>, FreeBSD Current <freebsd-current@freebsd.org>, Gordon Bergling <gbe@freebsd.org>, Ed Maste <emaste@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: HEADS-UP: PIE enabled by default on main
Message-ID:  <49B22332-AE96-4E51-A5A8-DFE4261499C5@me.com>
In-Reply-To: <CAJQ5Jng353Hipe1LuN4RskgPFLtF-hboGM4m0MOj=%2BN%2B4aaSXw@mail.gmail.com>
References:  <CAPyFy2CyxG=Bj8T22ixW3=E3dv6mPoZRwJ_VSN%2BTwky95rUYYw@mail.gmail.com> <YDk/G50NWjeoia33@lion.0xfce3.net> <YDlEs6tA9e9VJJ0C@kib.kiev.ua> <YDlMykRXkT03y6Kt@lion.0xfce3.net> <YDroC3avOcPeQh0W@kib.kiev.ua> <20210228043411.mj7l5wkwj46neurv@localhost> <CANCZdfoub0mpJti6bkKsTRS2gTi_fjjVc2QniWVMkSWwSnMxNg@mail.gmail.com> <20210228062442.qk5nkzxt4msw2cgm@localhost> <CAJQ5Jng353Hipe1LuN4RskgPFLtF-hboGM4m0MOj=%2BN%2B4aaSXw@mail.gmail.com>

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> On 28. Feb 2021, at 13:27, dmilith . <dmilith@gmail.com> wrote:
>=20
> First of all - ALSR is designed as mitigation for external attacks,
> not internal ones (logged in user).
> Second - Linux and FreeBSD both have weak implementations in
> comparison to PAX-driven ones. Try attacking the system with
> Grsecurity or HardenedBSD (both use the strongest ASLR available
> AFAIK).
>=20
> Saying that security mitigation features that affect no performance
> are "meaningless", is just ridiculous or at least just irresponsible.
> It's like telling C programmers that stack protection or out of bounds
> checks are bad, cause there's nothing wrong with random SEGFAULTS from
> time to time=E2=80=A6
>=20


You seem to forget that those mechanisms are there exactly because =
programmers are not caring about random faults from time to time:D With =
correct code, one would not need mechanisms like ALSR.=20

rgds,
toomas

>=20
> On 28/02/2021, Ihor Antonov <ihor@antonovs.family> wrote:
>> On 2021-02-27 22:29, Warner Losh wrote:
>>> On Sat, Feb 27, 2021 at 9:34 PM Ihor Antonov <ihor@antonovs.family>
>>> wrote:
>>>=20
>>>>>=20
>>>>> But isn't it well-known that ASLR/ASR/any-related-buzzwork does =
not
>>>>> add
>>>>> any security, except imaginary?  The only purpose of it is to have =
a
>>>>> check-list item ticked green.
>>>>=20
>>>> I don't know if I should parse this as sarcasm (or any other form =
of
>>>> "humor") or is a serious statement? But this does leave me with a =
whole
>>>> bunch of questions..
>>>>=20
>>>> If this is really how Konstantin is describing it then is it OK to =
say
>>>> about this to the whole Internet? Why FreeBSD Foundation is paying =
for
>>>> meaningless work then? Why members of the Core team do this work?  =
Does
>>>> this mean that FreeBSD is working to satisfy the silly needs of =
some
>>>> fat
>>>> customer? What about project independence and not being controlled =
by
>>>> big money?
>>>>=20
>>>> Where can I read about ASLR and security myths?
>>>=20
>>> Why not spend time and explain why this does not work?
>>>>=20
>>>=20
>>> Not to rise to the baitiness of all these leading questions (they =
really
>>> are quite contrary to how our community usually comports itself, but =
for
>>> the sake of civil discourse, I'll ignore)....
>>>=20
>>> I'll bet it has something to do with the many known ASLR attacks.  =
One is
>>> chronicled in https://www.vusec.net/projects/anc/ and elsewhere, =
which
>>> show
>>> how MMU side channels can defeat ASLR. Or maybe he's familiar with =
the
>>> offset2lib attack against Linux 64-bit ASLR documented in this paper
>>> =
https://cybersecurity.upv.es/attacks/offset2lib/offset2lib-paper.pdf.
>>> There's many others as well that show the shortcomings of ASLR and
>>> disclose
>>> ways to defeat it using various clever means.
>>=20
>> Warner, thanks for the links. They are indeed interesting.
>>=20
>>>> You clearly should mean something useful and much more important =
than
>>>> that,
>>>=20
>>> Maybe he'd like to understand how PIE accomplishes better security =
give
>>> the
>>> known ASLR weaknesses. And rather than take a sarcastic tone, he =
asked
>>> for
>>> more details that back up the earlier claims of improved security so =
we
>>> could all learn something.
>>=20
>> The conclusion of the paper in the second link clearly says:
>>=20
>>    We present a new weakness on the current implementationof the ASLR
>>    Linux systems which affects PIE compiled ex-ecutables.  =
Applications
>>    compiled with PIE are consideredto be more robust since it makes
>>    attacks more difficult.
>>=20
>> Which I read as ASLR and PIE work better together. This is the same =
what
>> Gordon was saying.
>>=20
>> The whole situation is wrong on 2 different levels.
>>=20
>> First: saying that ASLR is not perfect and can be broken is not the =
same
>> thing as saying "The only purpose of it is to have a check-list item =
ticked
>> green"
>>=20
>> There are no perfect security measures, and you guys (kernel and OS
>> developers) should know that better than us (users). Hackers find new
>> exploits, developers find ways to mitigate them and cycle repeats. =
Just
>> the fact that ASLR can be broken is not the reason to not have it.
>>=20
>> Second: look at this exchange from a distance
>>=20
>> Ed: we are enabling security feature X, please rebuild your worlds..
>> Godron: great progress! go team!
>> Konstantin: why do you think this is great progress? (implying it is
>> not)
>> Gordon: well, I heard feature X works best with feature Y
>> Konstantin: feature Y is useless checkbox, next time you speak make =
sure
>> you say something useful!
>>=20
>> Considering the fact that Konstantin himself worked on ASLR this is =
at
>> least confusing.. Also does this also mean that feature X (PIE) is =
also
>> useless checkbox?
>>=20
>> Konstantin, Ed, Warner - I dunno what is going on in your house =
(Core) but
>> it does not look good form the outside. You are sending mixed signals =
to
>> your auditory.
>>=20
>>=20
>> _______________________________________________
>> freebsd-current@freebsd.org mailing list
>> https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-current
>> To unsubscribe, send any mail to =
"freebsd-current-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"
>>=20
>=20
>=20
> --=20
> --
> Daniel Dettlaff
> Versatile Knowledge Systems
> verknowsys.com
> _______________________________________________
> freebsd-current@freebsd.org mailing list
> https://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-current
> To unsubscribe, send any mail to =
"freebsd-current-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"




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