From 32b9c5bb283cbfcb35f91c611f5ed1bc172d4d9d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joshua Lock Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2023 10:01:45 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] nonspec: remove unused and outdated motivating example (#945) The motivating example page is not referenced/linked to by any other content and has fallen out of date with SLSA v1. Fixes: #943 Signed-off-by: joshua.lock@uk.verizon.com --- docs/_redirects | 3 + docs/example.md | 209 ------------------------------------------------ 2 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 209 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 docs/example.md diff --git a/docs/_redirects b/docs/_redirects index bb22239ce..01789695b 100644 --- a/docs/_redirects +++ b/docs/_redirects @@ -68,3 +68,6 @@ /verification_summary/v1-rc2 /spec/v1.0-rc2/verification_summary 301 /verification_summary/v1.0 /spec/v1.0/verification_summary 301 /verification_summary/v1.1 /spec/v1.1/verification_summary 301 + +# Removed files. Keep URLs working forever. +/example https://github.com/slsa-framework/slsa/blob/a25364a3b312f572e4620c812820249853bb40e5/docs/example.md 301 diff --git a/docs/example.md b/docs/example.md deleted file mode 100644 index 3b9a64791..000000000 --- a/docs/example.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,209 +0,0 @@ ---- -title: Motivating example -description: A brief example motivating the need for a SLSA specification. -layout: specifications ---- - -Consider the example of using [curl](https://curl.se) through its -[official docker image][curlimages/curl]. What threats are we exposed to in the -software supply chain? (We choose curl simply because it is a popular -open-source package, not to single it out.) - -The first problem is figuring out the actual supply chain. This requires -significant manual effort, guesswork, and blind trust. Working backwards: - -- The "latest" tag in Docker Hub points to - [7.72.0](https://hub.docker.com/layers/curlimages/curl/7.72.0/images/sha256-3c3ff0c379abb1150bb586c7d55848ed4dcde4a6486b6f37d6815aed569332fe?context=explore). -- It claims to have come from a Dockerfile in the - [curl/curl-docker](https://github.com/curl/curl-docker/blob/d6525c840a62b398424a78d792f457477135d0cf/alpine/latest/Dockerfile) - GitHub repository. -- That Dockerfile reads the following artifacts, assuming there are no further - fetches during build time: - - Docker Hub image: - [registry.hub.docker.com/library/alpine:3.11.5](https://hub.docker.com/layers/alpine/library/alpine/3.11.5/images/sha256-cb8a924afdf0229ef7515d9e5b3024e23b3eb03ddbba287f4a19c6ac90b8d221?context=explore) - - Alpine packages: libssh2 libssh2-dev libssh2-static autoconf automake - build-base groff openssl curl-dev python3 python3-dev libtool curl - stunnel perl nghttp2 - - File at URL: https://curl.haxx.se/ca/cacert.pem -- Each of the dependencies has its own supply chain, but let's look at - [curl-dev], which contains the actual "curl" source code. -- The package, like all Alpine packages, has its build script defined in an - [APKBUILD](https://git.alpinelinux.org/aports/tree/main/curl/APKBUILD?id=166f72b36f3b5635be0d237642a63f39697c848a) - in the Alpine git repo. There are several build dependencies: - - File at URL: https://curl.haxx.se/download/curl-7.72.0.tar.xz. - - The APKBUILD includes a sha256 hash of this file. It is not clear - where that hash came from. - - Alpine packages: openssl-dev nghttp2-dev zlib-dev brotli-dev autoconf - automake groff libtool perl -- The source tarball was _presumably_ built from the actual upstream GitHub - repository - [curl/curl@curl-7_72_0](https://github.com/curl/curl/tree/curl-7_72_0), by - running the commands `./buildconf && ./configure && make && ./maketgz - 7.72.0`. That command has a set of dependencies, but those are not well - documented. -- Finally, there are the platforms that actually ran the builds above. We have - no indication about their software, configuration, or runtime state - whatsoever. - -Suppose some developer's machine is compromised. What attacks could potentially -be performed unilaterally with only that developer's credentials? (None of these -are confirmed.) - -- Directly upload a malicious image to Docker Hub. -- Point the CI/CD platform to build from an unofficial Dockerfile. -- Upload a malicious Dockerfile (or other file) in the - [curl/curl-docker](https://github.com/curl/curl-docker/blob/d6525c840a62b398424a78d792f457477135d0cf/alpine/latest/Dockerfile) - git repo. -- Upload a malicious https://curl.haxx.se/ca/cacert.pem. -- Upload a malicious APKBUILD in Alpine's git repo. -- Upload a malicious [curl-dev] Alpine package to the Alpine repository. (Not - sure if this is possible.) -- Upload a malicious https://curl.haxx.se/download/curl-7.72.0.tar.xz. (Won't - be detected by APKBUILD's hash if the upload happens before the hash is - computed.) -- Upload a malicious change to the [curl/curl](https://github.com/curl/curl/) - git repo. -- Attack any of the systems involved in the supply chain, as in the - [SolarWinds attack](https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/sunspot-malware-technical-analysis/). - -SLSA intends to cover all of these threats. When all artifacts in the supply -chain have a sufficient SLSA level, consumers can gain confidence that most of -these attacks are mitigated, first via self-certification and eventually through -automated verification. - -Finally, note that all of this is just for curl's own first-party supply chain -steps. The dependencies, namely the Alpine base image and packages, have their -own similar threats. And they too have dependencies, which have other -dependencies, and so on. Each dependency has its -own SLSA level and the -[composition of SLSA levels](#composition-of-slsa-levels) describes the entire -supply chain's security. - -For another look at Docker supply chain security, see -[Who's at the Helm?](https://dlorenc.medium.com/whos-at-the-helm-1101c37bf0f1) -For a much broader look at open source security, including these issues and many -more, see [Threats, Risks, and Mitigations in the Open Source Ecosystem]. - -## Vision: Case Study - -Let's consider how we might secure [curlimages/curl] from the -[motivating example](#motivating-example) using the SLSA framework. - -### Incrementally reaching SLSA 4 - -Let's start by incrementally applying the SLSA principles to the final Docker -image. - -#### SLSA 0: Initial state - -![slsa0](images/slsa-0.svg) - -Initially the Docker image is SLSA 0. There is no provenance. It is difficult to -determine who built the artifact and what sources and dependencies were used. - -The diagram shows that the (mutable) locator `curlimages/curl:7.72.0` points to -(immutable) artifact `sha256:3c3ff…`. - -#### SLSA 1: Provenance - -![slsa1](images/slsa-1.svg) - -We can reach SLSA 1 by scripting the build and generating -[provenance](https://github.com/in-toto/attestation). The build script was -already automated via `make`, so we use simple tooling to generate the -provenance on every release. Provenance records the output artifact hash, the -builder (in this case, our local machine), and the top-level source containing -the build script. - -In the updated diagram, the provenance attestation says that the artifact -`sha256:3c3ff…` was built from -[curl/curl-docker@d6525…](https://github.com/curl/curl-docker/blob/d6525c840a62b398424a78d792f457477135d0cf/alpine/latest/Dockerfile). - -At SLSA 1, the provenance does not protect against tampering or forging but may -be useful for vulnerability management. - -#### SLSA 2 and 3: Build platform - -![slsa2](images/slsa-2.svg) - -To reach SLSA 2 (and later SLSA 3), we must switch to a hosted build platform -that generates provenance for us. This updated provenance should also include -dependencies on a best-effort basis. SLSA 3 additionally requires the source and -build platforms to implement additional security controls, which might need to -be enabled. - -In the updated diagram, the provenance now lists some dependencies, such as the -base image (`alpine:3.11.5`) and apk packages (e.g. `curl-dev`). - -At SLSA 3, the provenance is significantly more trustworthy than before. Only -highly skilled adversaries are likely able to forge it. - -#### SLSA 4: Hermeticity and two-person review - -![slsa4](images/slsa-4.svg) - -SLSA 4 [requires](requirements.md) two-party source control and hermetic builds. -Hermeticity in particular guarantees that the dependencies are complete. Once -these controls are enabled, the Docker image will be SLSA 4. - -In the updated diagram, the provenance now attests to its hermeticity and -includes the `cacert.pem` dependency, which was absent before. - -At SLSA 4, we have high confidence that the provenance is complete and -trustworthy and that no single person can unilaterally change the top-level -source. - -### Full graph - -![full-graph](images/slsa-full-graph.svg) - -We can recursively apply the same steps above to lock down dependencies. Each -non-source dependency gets its own provenance, which in turns lists more -dependencies, and so on. - -The final diagram shows a subset of the graph, highlighting the path to the -upstream source repository ([curl/curl](https://github.com/curl/curl)) and the -certificate file ([cacert.pem](https://curl.se/docs/caextract.html)). - -In reality, the graph is intractably large due to the fanout of dependencies. -There will need to be some way to trim the graph to focus on the most important -components. While this can reasonably be done by hand, we do not yet have a -solid vision for how best to do this in an scalable, generic, automated way. One -idea is to use ecosystem-specific heuristics. For example, Debian packages are -built and organized in a very uniform way, which may allow Debian-specific -heuristics. - -### Composition of SLSA levels - -An artifact's SLSA level is not transitive, so some aggregate measure of -security risk across the whole supply chain is necessary. In other words, each -node in our graph has its own, independent SLSA level. Just because an -artifact's level is N does not imply anything about its dependencies' levels. - -In our example, suppose that the final [curlimages/curl] Docker image were SLSA -4 but its [curl-dev] dependency were SLSA 0. Then this would imply a significant -security risk: an adversary could potentially introduce malicious behavior into -the final image by modifying the source code found in the [curl-dev] package. -That said, even being able to _identify_ that it has a SLSA 0 dependency has -tremendous value because it can help focus efforts. - -Formation of this aggregate risk measure is left for future work. It is perhaps -too early to develop such a measure without real-world data. Once SLSA becomes -more widely adopted, we expect patterns to emerge and the task to get a bit -easier. - -### Accreditation and delegation - -Accreditation and delegation will play a large role in the SLSA framework. It is -not practical for every software consumer to fully vet every platform and fully -walk the entire graph of every artifact. Auditors and/or accreditation bodies -can verify and assert that a platform or vendor meets the SLSA requirements when -configured in a certain way. Similarly, there may be some way to "trust" an -artifact without analyzing its dependencies. This may be particularly valuable -for closed source software. - - - -[Threats, Risks, and Mitigations in the Open Source Ecosystem]: https://github.com/Open-Source-Security-Coalition/Open-Source-Security-Coalition/blob/master/publications/threats-risks-mitigations/v1.1/Threats%2C%20Risks%2C%20and%20Mitigations%20in%20the%20Open%20Source%20Ecosystem%20-%20v1.1.pdf -[curl-dev]: https://pkgs.alpinelinux.org/package/edge/main/x86/curl-dev -[curlimages/curl]: https://hub.docker.com/r/curlimages/curl