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fsverity: update the documentation
Update the fsverity documentation related to IMA signature support. Acked-by: Stefan Berger <stefanb@linux.ibm.com> Acked-by: Eric Biggers <ebiggers@google.com> Signed-off-by: Mimi Zohar <zohar@linux.ibm.com>
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Documentation/filesystems/fsverity.rst

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@@ -70,12 +70,23 @@ must live on a read-write filesystem because they are independently
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updated and potentially user-installed, so dm-verity cannot be used.
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The base fs-verity feature is a hashing mechanism only; actually
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authenticating the files is up to userspace. However, to meet some
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users' needs, fs-verity optionally supports a simple signature
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verification mechanism where users can configure the kernel to require
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that all fs-verity files be signed by a key loaded into a keyring; see
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`Built-in signature verification`_. Support for fs-verity file hashes
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in IMA (Integrity Measurement Architecture) policies is also planned.
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authenticating the files may be done by:
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* Userspace-only
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* Builtin signature verification + userspace policy
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fs-verity optionally supports a simple signature verification
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mechanism where users can configure the kernel to require that
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all fs-verity files be signed by a key loaded into a keyring;
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see `Built-in signature verification`_.
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* Integrity Measurement Architecture (IMA)
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IMA supports including fs-verity file digests and signatures in the
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IMA measurement list and verifying fs-verity based file signatures
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stored as security.ima xattrs, based on policy.
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User API
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========
@@ -653,12 +664,12 @@ weren't already directly answered in other parts of this document.
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hashed and what to do with those hashes, such as log them,
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authenticate them, or add them to a measurement list.
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IMA is planned to support the fs-verity hashing mechanism as an
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alternative to doing full file hashes, for people who want the
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performance and security benefits of the Merkle tree based hash.
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But it doesn't make sense to force all uses of fs-verity to be
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through IMA. As a standalone filesystem feature, fs-verity
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already meets many users' needs, and it's testable like other
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IMA supports the fs-verity hashing mechanism as an alternative
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to full file hashes, for those who want the performance and
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security benefits of the Merkle tree based hash. However, it
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doesn't make sense to force all uses of fs-verity to be through
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IMA. fs-verity already meets many users' needs even as a
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standalone filesystem feature, and it's testable like other
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filesystem features e.g. with xfstests.
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:Q: Isn't fs-verity useless because the attacker can just modify the

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