RE: [RFC PATCH 0/6] Keem Bay OCS ECC crypto driver

["Reshetova, Elena" <elena.reshetova@intel.com>]

> > On Mon, Jan 04, 2021 at 08:04:15AM +0000, Reshetova, Elena wrote:
> > > > 2. The OCS ECC HW does not support the NIST P-192 curve. We were planning
> to
> > > >    add SW fallback for P-192 in the driver, but the Intel Crypto team
> > > >    (which, internally, has to approve any code involving cryptography)
> > > >    advised against it, because they consider P-192 weak. As a result, the
> > > >    driver is not passing crypto self-tests. Is there any possible solution
> > > >    to this? Is it reasonable to change the self-tests to only test the
> > > >    curves actually supported by the tested driver? (not fully sure how to do
> > > >    that).
> > >
> > > An additional reason against the P-192 SW fallback is the fact that it can
> > > potentially trigger unsafe behavior which is not even "visible" to the end user
> > > of the ECC functionality. If I request (by my developer mistake) a P-192
> > > weaker curve from ECC Keem Bay HW driver, it is much safer to return a
> > > "not supported" error that proceed behind my back with a SW code
> > > implementation making me believe that I am actually getting a HW-backed up
> > > functionality (since I don't think there is a way for me to check that I am using
> > > SW fallback).
> >
> > Sorry, but if you break the Crypto API requirement then your driver
> > isn't getting merged.
> 
> But should not we think what behavior would make sense for good crypto drivers in
> future?
> As cryptography moves forward (especially for the post quantum era), we will have
> lengths for all existing algorithms increased (in addition to having a bunch of new
> ones),
> and we surely should not expect the new generation of HW drivers to implement
> the old/weaker lengths, so why there the requirement to support them? It is not a
> part of crypto API definition on what bit lengths should be supported, because it
> cannot be part of API to begin with since it is always changing parameter (algorithms
> and attacks
> develop all the time).

I would really appreciate, if someone helps us to understand here. Maybe there is a
correct way to address this, but we just don't see it. The question is not even about
this particular crypto driver and the fact whenever it gests merged or not, but the
logic of the crypto API subsystem. 

As far as I understand the implementations that are provided by the specialized drivers
(like our Keem Bay OCS ECC driver example here) have a higher priority vs. generic
Implementations that exists in kernel, which makes sense because we expect these drivers
(and the security HW they talk to) to provide both more efficient and more secure
implementations than a pure SW implementation in kernel can do (even if it utilizes special
instructions, like SIMD, AESNI, etc.). However, naturally these drivers are bound by 
what security HW can do, and if it does not support a certain size/param of the algorithm
(P-192 curve in our case), it is pointless and wrong for them to reimplement what SW is
already doing in kernel, so they should not do so and currently they re-direct to core kernel 
implementation. So far good. 

But now comes my biggest worry is that this redirection as far
as I can see is *internal to driver itself*, i.e. it does a callback to these core functions from the driver
code, which again, unless I misunderstand smth, leads to the fact that the end user gets
P-192 curve ECC implementation from the core kernel that has been "promoted" to a highest
priority (given that ECC KeemBay driver for example got priority 300 to begin with). So, if
we say we have another HW Driver 'Foo', which happens to implement P-192 curves more securely,
but happens to have a lower priority than ECC KeemBay driver, its implementation would never
be chosen, but core kernel implementation will be used (via SW fallback internal to ECC Keem
Bay driver).  

Another problem is that for a user of crypto API I don't see a way (and perhaps I am wrong here)
to guarantee that all my calls to perform crypto operations will end up being performed on a 
security HW I want (maybe because this is the only thing I trust). It seems to be possible in theory,
but in practice would require careful evaluation of a kernel setup and a sync between what 
end user requests and what driver can provide. Let me try to explain a potential scenario. 
Lets say we had an end user that used to ask for both P-192 and P-384 curve-based ECC operations
and let's say we had a driver and security HW that implemented it. The end user made sure that
this driver implementation is always preferred vs. other existing implementations. Now, time moves, a new 
security HW comes instead that only supports P-384, and the driver now has been updated to
support P-192 via the SW fallback (like we are asked now). 
Now, how does an end user notice that when it asks for a P-192 based operations, his operations
are not done in security HW anymore? The only way seems to be
is to know that driver and security HW has been updated, algorithms and sizes changed, etc. 
It might take a while before the end user realizes this and for example stops using P-192 altogether,
but what if this silent redirect by the driver actually breaks some security assumptions (side-channel
resistance being one potential example) made by this end user? The consequences can be very bad. 
You might say: "this is the end user problem to verify this", but shouldn't we do smth to prevent or
at least indicate such potential issues to them?

Best Regards,
Elena.