Issue #9617 has been updated by James Turnbull.

Category set to file
Status changed from Unreviewed to Needs Decision
Assignee set to Nigel Kersten
Priority changed from High to Normal


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Bug #9617: Puppet uses insecure file checksums
https://projects.puppetlabs.com/issues/9617

Author: Dump Dump
Status: Needs Decision
Priority: Normal
Assignee: Nigel Kersten
Category: file
Target version: 
Affected Puppet version: 
Keywords: md5 checksum security
Branch: 


Puppet uses MD5 for file checksums.

It is possible for an attacker to modify a file contents to it's liking, while 
padding for example, with a large comment, for the md5 to match the original 
checksum.
While an administrator would suspect that after an attack, Puppet would replace 
all the files it's told to fix, it won't.

While Puppet should not be used as a security device, it touches security.  In 
a proper environment where attackers are sandboxed and cannot touch puppet, but 
can touch other files, it makes sense for puppet to be able to create secure 
checksums. Likewise, in an environment where you need to quickly fix a file to 
close a security hole, but you know some systems are compromised, this helps as 
you can't expect a reinstall of hundred or thousand of systems overnight.

The proposal is to add SHA512 as a checksum option. See patch for a sample 
(it's missing tests, etc)

An additional option can be to perform both md5 and sha (and/or others) 
checksums


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