[Bug 1371695] [NEW] .deb packages do not support capabilties(7)

Launchpad Bug Tracker 1371695 at bugs.launchpad.net
Fri Sep 19 17:06:16 UTC 2014


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There are strong reasons to not run processes with full root privileges,
and much work has been done to eliminate setuid executables from the
distros.

One tool in the toolbox for more secure processes is capabilities(7),
which was defined in the (now withdrawn) POSIX 1e draft standard
(http://wt.tuxomania.net/publications/posix.1e/download/Posix_1003.1e-990310.pdf.bz2).
It provides a way to grant a process a finer-grained set of privileges
rather than full root privileges.

The RPM packaging system has supported capabilities via the %caps file
directive since release 4.7
(http://www.rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.7.0#POSIX.1edraft15filecapabilities).

deb packages should similarly support a way to specify that capabilities
be set on delivered files, to encourage the adoption of more secure
practices on Debian systems.

Most daemons currently running as root do not require full root
privileges, and would be more secure running at low privilege with
specifically-defined capabilities as required. This would reduce the
security vulnerability footprint of such processes and also enhance
security analysis of such processes by explicitly declaring security
requirements via the capabilities set. Even if we do not tackle this
approach with all processes today, encouraging this approach will lead
to better security practices.

** Affects: dh-make (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

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.deb packages do not support capabilties(7)
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1371695
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