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http://bugs.sourcemage.org/show_bug.cgi?id=9536

           Summary: abstract internal sorcery use of md5sum to configurable
                    hash command(s)
           Product: Sorcery
           Version: Untargetted future release
          Platform: Other
        OS/Version: other
            Status: NEW
          Severity: enhancement
          Priority: P3
         Component: subroutines
        AssignedTo: sm-sorcery-bugs AT lists.ibiblio.org
        ReportedBy: jblosser-smgl AT firinn.org
                CC: seth AT tautology.org


We discussed this some in IRC, I wanted to capture it here before it's 
forgotten.

MD5 and other hashes are currently falling to various attacks, and it is
generally accepted that MD5 shouldn't be used for secure applications if
avoidable.  While Sorcery's internal use of MD5 logs is not intended as a
security feature, it can be used this way, e.g. by administrators copying the
md5sum log directory to CD periodically to help audit system activity for
potential break ins.  It is probably in our users' best interests for us to 
use
something more secure and not limit their options of what they can use these
logs for.

However, it's not known which hashes will remain after the conclusion of the
current research activity, and in any case, sorcery doesn't want to have to
change the internally used hash algorithms all the time.  It is therefore
desirable to have a system that abstracts the actual hash commands/algorithms
used to something dedicated to this task, similar to the way in which upstream
source verification is being moved to GPG.  To be considered sufficiently
abstracted any such system must also be both backward- and 
forward-compatible. 
Ideally it would also allow for local administrator control over which
commands/algorithms are used wherever reasonable.

To accomplish this, a new configuration dialogue should be added to sorcery. 
This will allow the local administrator to select which hash command to use. 
The list of selectable options will be prepopulated with the various *sum
commands provided by the 'hashsum' spell (or a future replacement), but will
also allow the administrator to enter the name of any command capable of
producing md5sum-compatible output ("checksum<space><space>filename").  The
default will be specified by the Security Team and may change from time to 
time.

Any new checksums that must be generated will use the command the user has
specified, or, if the user has not specified an explicit command, the system
default.  The logs of these checksums need to be stored somewhere they can be
found by sorcery in the future and in such a way that the command used to
generate them can be determined.  There are (at least) a couple of options 
for this:

1) We can store the logs in ${LOG_DIRECTORY}/<command>/, and store the command
used in the tablet for that spell.

2) We can store the logs in ${CHECKSUM_LOGS} (to replace the current
${MD5SUM_LOGS}) regardless of the command used, and make the first line of the
file the name of the command used.  Log files missing this magic first line
would be assumed to be md5sum logs.

3) Others?



I'm adding this to my list to take a crack at if/when I can, others should 
feel
free to work on it first if they want.

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