Re: [RFD] linux-firmware key arrangement for firmware signing

[Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>]

On Thu, May 21, 2015 at 08:41:02AM +0300, Petko Manolov wrote:
> > I too don't understand this need to sign something that you don't really know 
> > what it is from some other company, just to send it to a separate device that 
> > is going to do whatever it wants with it if it is signed or not.
> 
> This is not the point.  What you need to know is _where_ the firmware came from, 
> not _what_ it does once it reach your system.  If you don't care about such 
> things, just ignore the signature. :)

Ok, but how do we know "where"?  Who is going to start signing and
attesting to the validity of all of the firmware images in the
linux-firmware tree suddenly?  Why is it the kernel's job to attest this
"where"?  Shouldn't your distro/manufacturer be doing that as part of
their "put this file on this disk" responsibilities (i.e. the package
manager?)

What is verifying a firmware image signature in the kernel attesting
that isn't already known in userspace?

thanks,

greg k-h