On Wed, Jul 6, 2011 at 3:02 PM, Dennis E. Hamilton <orc...@apache.org> wrote: > [I am reminded that the best way to talk to the PPMC is on ooo-dev and there > is benefit in so doing. Here goes.] > > PROPOSAL > > ooo-security@incubator.a.o be set up as a private list and a selection of not > more than 10 security-aware PPMC members be subscribed to it. We need to > work out what the composition would be. The list will be automatically > forward to security@a.o. I assume that there might be security-aware > ooo-podling mentors and other ASF Members included in the small PPMC > subscription. > > DETAILS > > General information about the Apache Security Team: > <http://www.apache.org/security/> > > More details on the handling of security and vulnerabilities by committers > and the role of the [P]PMC: > <http://www.apache.org/security/committers.html> > > Note that creation of a security page on our web site is also part of this. > That should happen near-immediately also. >
The website already has a "Security" link on the navigation panel, at the bottom. This takes you to the main Apache security page where the reporter is instructed on how to submit reports. According to that page, security reports are routed to the PMC in case we do not have a dedicated security list. So I don't see the urgency on creating a new list or a new web page, especially since we don't even have code in the repository, let alone a release, and since there already is a security list and contact address at OOo. I think that the existing procedures, in place at Apache, are adequate if someone wanted to report a problem The idea of having the discussion in private, on the PMC private list or on a private security list, is a good idea, so that any vulnerability reported would not be immediately exploited by script kiddies. Or at least the chances of that would be diminished. But I don't think that any of the PPMC members are malicious hackers likely to abuse any security sensitive information shared on the PPMC list. Of course, only a subset of the members have security expertise. > BACKGROUND > > I have been nosing around in document-related security areas and that has led > me to inquire what the arrangements need to be for discussing security > issues, identified vulnerabilities, proposed mitigations, etc. > > I've learned that the Apache approach is for each PMC taking the lead in > handling security matters related to its releases. To maintain the security > of security matters, the practice is to have a private list (for us, > ooo-security) with not more than ten security-aware subscribers. > > Since we may have "common-mode" issues with respect to the use of our common > code base and implementation behaviors, it may be necessary to coordinate > with other teams, including the LibreOffice security team, in our case. > We'll have to work that out on an individual-case basis, I suspect. I don't > know if we have any PPMC members who are also on that team, and I don't know > what the structure was for OpenOffice.org and who may have been involved. > I'd object to us officially sharing advance security-related information with some downstream consumers of OOo while not doing the same with others. > - Dennis > >
