[Bug 2008789] Re: [MIR] inetutils

Ioanna Alifieraki 2008789 at bugs.launchpad.net
Tue Mar 28 11:37:46 UTC 2023 

Review for Package: inetutils

[Summary]
MIR team ACK
This does need a security review, so I'll assign ubuntu-security
List of specific binary packages to be promoted to main: inetutils-telnet, telnet
Specific binary packages built, but NOT to be promoted to main: inetutils-ftp, inetutils-ftpd, inetutils-inetd,
inetutils-ping, inetutils-syslogd, inetutils-talk, inetutils-talkd, inetutils-telnetd, inetutils-tools,
inetutils-traceroute, telnetd

Notes:
No required or recommended TODOs, only sec-review is needed.

[Duplication]
There is no other package in main providing the same functionality.
inetutils-telnet is to replace netkit-telener which had been dropped form Debian.

[Dependencies]
OK:
- no other Dependencies to MIR due to this
  - inetutils checked with `check-mir`
  - all dependencies can be found in `seeded-in-ubuntu` (already in main)
  - none of the (potentially auto-generated) dependencies (Depends
    and Recommends) that are present after build are not in main
- no -dev/-debug/-doc packages that need exclusion
- No dependencies in main that are only superficially tested requiring
  more tests now.

Problems: None

[Embedded sources and static linking]
OK:
- no embedded source present
- no static linking
- does not have unexpected Built-Using entries
- not a go package, no extra constraints to consider in that regard
- not a rust package, no extra constraints to consider in that regard
- Does not include vendored code

Problems: None

[Security]
OK:
- history of CVEs does not look concerning
- does not run a daemon as root
- does not use webkit1,2
- does not use lib*v8 directly
- does not parse data formats (files [images, video, audio,
  xml, json, asn.1], network packets, structures, ...) from
  an untrusted source.
- does not process arbitrary web content
- does not use centralized online accounts
- does not integrate arbitrary javascript into the desktop
- does not deal with system authentication (eg, pam), etc)

Problems:
- does deal with cryptography (en-/decryption, certificates, signing, ...)
- does not open a port/socket

[Common blockers]
OK:
- does not FTBFS currently
- does have a test suite that runs at build time
- test suite fails will fail the build upon error.
- does have a non-trivial test suite that runs as autopkgtest
- no new python2 dependency

Problems: None

[Packaging red flags]
OK:
- Ubuntu does not carry a delta
- symbols tracking not applicable for this kind of code.
- debian/watch is present and looks ok (if needed, e.g. non-native)
- Upstream update history is good
- Debian/Ubuntu update history is good
- the current release is packaged
- promoting this does not seem to cause issues for MOTUs that so far
  maintained the package
- no massive Lintian warnings
- debian/rules is rather clean
- It is not on the lto-disabled list

Problems: None

[Upstream red flags]
OK:
- no Errors/warnings during the build
- no incautious use of malloc/sprintf (as far as we can check it)
- no use of sudo, gksu, pkexec, or LD_LIBRARY_PATH (usage is OK inside
  tests)
- no use of user nobody
- no use of setuid
- no important open bugs (crashers, etc) in Debian or Ubuntu
- no dependency on webkit, qtwebkit, seed or libgoa-*
- not part of the UI for extra checks
- no translation present, but none needed for this case (user visible)?

Problems: None


** Changed in: inetutils (Ubuntu)
     Assignee: Ioanna Alifieraki (joalif) => Ubuntu Security Team (ubuntu-security)

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2008789

Title:
  [MIR] inetutils

Status in inetutils package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Dear reviewers, this is my first MIR. I answered all questions very
  carefully, but if something feels wrong, please look extra closely or
  ask me (~dviererbe) to reinvestigate a given answer.

  [Availability]
  The package inetutils-telnet is already in Ubuntu universe.
  The package inetutils-telnet build for the architectures it is designed to work on.
  It currently builds and works for architetcures: amd64, arm64, armhf, i386, ppc64el, riscv64, s390x
  Link to package [[https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/inetutils|inetutils]]

  [Rationale]
   The package inetutils-telnet is required in Ubuntu main:
   - The package inetutils-telnet will not generally be useful for a large part of
     our user base, but is important/helpful still because it is commonly used for
     network diagnostics, like protocol testing of SMTP services.
   - Additionally telnet is still used for legacy industrial and scientific
     equipment.
   - Package inetutils-telnet covers similar use cases as netkit-telnet, but
     is better because netkit-telnet has been dropped altogether from Debian,
     thereby we want to replace it.

   - The package inetutils-telnet is required in Ubuntu main no later than
     April 13th 2023 due to the Ubuntu 23.04 Lunar Lobster release date.

  [Security]
   - Had security issues in the past:
     - CVE-2019-0053 (needs triage)
       - https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-0053
     - most likely not relevant:
       - CVE-2022-39028 (only related to telnetd)
         - https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2022-39028
         - https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-39028
       - CVE-2020-10188 (related to netcat):
         - https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2018/12/13/2
         - https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2018/12/14/8
       - CVE-2011-4862 (related to telnetd; not sure if relevant anymore)
         - https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2011-4862
         - https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2011-4862
     - security issues were patched or reached end of life

   - no `suid` or `sgid` binaries
   - no executables in `/sbin` and `/usr/sbin`
   - Package does not install services, timers or recurring jobs
   - Packages does not open privileged ports (ports < 1024)
   - Packages does not contain extensions to security-sensitive software
     (filters, scanners, plugins, UI skins, ...)
   - See list of files for:
     - amd64: https://packages.ubuntu.com/lunar/amd64/inetutils-telnet/filelist
     - arm64: https://packages.ubuntu.com/lunar/arm64/inetutils-telnet/filelist
     - armhf: https://packages.ubuntu.com/lunar/armhf/inetutils-telnet/filelist
     - i386: https://packages.ubuntu.com/lunar/i386/inetutils-telnet/filelist
     - ppc64el: https://packages.ubuntu.com/lunar/ppc64el/inetutils-telnet/filelist
     - s390x: https://packages.ubuntu.com/lunar/s390x/inetutils-telnet/filelist

  [Quality assurance - function/usage]
   - The package works well right after install

  [Quality assurance - maintenance]
   - The package is maintained well in Debian/Ubuntu/Upstream and does
     not have too many, long-term & critical, open bugs
     - Ubuntu https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/inetutils/+bug
     - Debian https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=inetutils
     - Upstream-Homepage: https://www.gnu.org/software/inetutils/
     - Upstream-Bugtracker: https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-inetutils/
   - The package does not deal with exotic hardware we cannot support

  [Quality assurance - testing]
   - The package runs a test suite on build time, if it fails
     it makes the build fail

   - The package runs an autopkgtest, and its builds are currently passing on
     amd64, arm64, armhf, i386, ppc64el, riscv64, s390x
   - link to builds (logs can be accessed through the web UI)
     https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/lunar/+builds?build_text=inetutils&build_state=built&arch_tag=all
   - Link to autopkgtests https://autopkgtest.ubuntu.com/packages/i/inetutils

   - The package does have failing autopkgtests tests right now, but they
     allways fail (See: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/inetutils/+bug/2009814)
     This is okay because the failure occures at the inetutils-ping package.
     The Foundations Team is working on a fix.

  [Quality assurance - packaging]
   - debian/watch is present and works
   - debian/control defines a correct Maintainer field

   - This package does not yield massive lintian Warnings, Errors
   - Recent build log of inetutils: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/lunar/+builds?build_text=inetutils&build_state=all&arch_tag=all
   - Full output of `lintian --pedantic` is attached as an extra post to this bug.
   - A lintian overrides is present, but ok because it is unused
   - The lintian Error 'inetutils changes: bad-distribution-in-changes-file lunar-amd64'
     emitted in the build log, this is because the debian/changelog file
     specifies 'unstable' as distribution.

   - This package does not rely on obsolete or about to be demoted packages.
     (The dependencies had recent updates and I could not find any open bug
     ticket that indicates a upcoming demotion)
   - This package has no python2 or GTK2 dependencies

   - The package will be installed by default, but does not ask debconf
     questions

   - Packaging and build is easy, link to debian/rules: https://git.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/inetutils/tree/debian/control
   - There is still the complication that building/testing inetutils-telnet
     can fail because of other inetutils-* packages.

  [UI standards]
    - Application is not end-user facing (does not need translation)
    - End-user applications without desktop file, not needed because it is a
      command line tool for sysadmins

  [Dependencies]
   - No further depends or recommends dependencies that are not yet in main

  [Standards compliance]
   - This package correctly follows FHS and Debian Policy

  [Maintenance/Owner]
   - Owning Team will be Ubuntu Foundations
   - Ubuntu Foundations Bugs is already subscribed to the package

   - This does not use static builds
   - This does not use vendored code
   - This package is not rust based

  [Background information]
   - The Package description explains the package well
   - Debian transitioned its default `telnet` client from netkit-telnet to
     inetutils-telnet. This transition was postponed in Ubuntu for kinetic by
     having ubuntu-standard Recommend `netkit-telnet` instead of `telnet`.
     But now, netkit-telnet has been dropped altogether from Debian and
     process-removals is prompting us to also delete it from lunar.
     (See: https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/telnet)
   - other binary packages from this inetutils might be brought into main
     accidentally, or even intentionally but with limited oversight, in the future.
   - mixed main/universe is a foreign concept to users

  Seeded in lunar.standard as a replacement for netkit-telnet:
  https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-core-dev/ubuntu-seeds/+git/platform/commit/?h=lunar&id=349619dc49fdd0695c0bd7f9ae72f535809c2657

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