Re: Use Cases and Requirements for Saving Files Securely

On Nov 9, 2009, at 12:08 PM, Ian Hickson wrote:

> On Mon, 2 Nov 2009, Doug Schepers wrote:
>>
>> Please send in use cases, requirements, concerns, and concrete
>> suggestions about the general topic (regardless of your opinion  
>> about my
>> suggestion).
>
> Some use cases:
>
> * Ability to manage attachments in Web-based mail clients, both  
> receiving
>  and sending
> * Ability to write a Web-based mail client that uses mbox files or the
>  Maildir format locally
> * Ability to write a Web-based photo management application that  
> handles
>  the user's photos on the user's computer
> * Ability to expose audio files to native media players
> * Ability to write a Web-based media player that indexes the user's  
> media

These are good use cases.

>
> Basically these require:
>
> - A per-origin filesystem (ideally exposed as a directory on the  
> user's
>  actual filesystem)
> - The ability to grant read and/or write privileges to a particular
>  directory to an origin
> - An API for files that supports reading and writing arbitrary ranges
> - An API for directories that supports creating, renaming, moving, and
>  enumerating child directories and files

Can you explain how these requirements follow from the use cases? It  
seems to me the use cases you cited would be adequately covered by:

- Existing facilities including <input type="file"> with multiple  
selection.
- File read facilities as outlined in the File API spec.
- Ability to create named writable files in a per-origin private use  
area (with no specific requirement that they be browsable by the user,  
or in hierarchical directories).
- Ability to write to a user-selected file (perhaps using something  
like <input type="save">).

In particular I don't see how the second or fourth requirements follow  
from your use cases, and they seem to impose a great deal of security  
risk. I would not want to ship a Web-facing API that gives the ability  
to ask for read/write access to the user's full home directory. That  
seems like a security decision that the user does not have the  
information to make. Writing to files in a private use area, and one- 
time reading or writing files selected by the user (perhaps many at a  
time), seem much less risky.


> I'd be happy to volunteer to edit the Directory component of this,  
> working
> in tandem with Arun's draft for file access.

I don't see how manipulation of directories is required for any of the  
use cases you cited.

Regards,
Maciej

Received on Tuesday, 10 November 2009 00:21:44 UTC