Re: WebCrypto Security Analysis

Please see this https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=917829

Chrome does not work the same way, then further discussions on mozilla 
security list leaded to nothing else than the typical useless discussion 
about whether https with http is more insecure than http with https 
while the conclusion is obvious even if both are insecured.

Could you please update us on the status on WebCrypto implementation in FF?

Regards,

Aymeric

Le 25/03/2014 17:24, Richard Barnes a écrit :
> On Tue, Mar 25, 2014 at 10:49 AM, Aymeric Vitte 
> <vitteaymeric@gmail.com <mailto:vitteaymeric@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     This thread shows that maybe someone should then ask Mozilla to
>     change its policy.
>
>
> Sorry, which policy?
>
>
>
>     As explained in [1] Presentation "Why the main page is not using
>     https", we are forced to use http to load the main page (which
>     then loads the js code with https, a kind of artifice...), because
>     we can not use ws with https, this is far more insecured than
>     loading the page with https and use ws, so there is a "secure"
>     mechanism on top of it, with a story of keys that only the users
>     and the server know and that are never sent, currently this is not
>     extraordinarly difficult to break by a MITM, and even to retrieve
>     the keys, we don't really care because we will remove this, the
>     target phase it a serverless P2P using WebRTC (whose insecure
>     self-signed certificates use for DTLS will be secure by the Tor
>     protocol) and the code is a standalone js file that can be
>     retrieved from third parties and that can be checked, it's
>     unlikely that they are all compromised.
>
>     The project is using SSL/TLS over WS (and not the contrary),
>     that's a js implementation, then it raises again the need of a
>     secure SSL/TLS implementation in WebCrypto.
>
>     In our case (like I believe in all cases) this just insures that
>     you are talking with the one with whom you have established the
>     SSL/TLS connection, which is enough, because we don't care if the
>     anonymizer peer is a MITM, he can only know about the first hop,
>     not what will happen next and it's unlikely that all the peers are
>     MITM.
>
>     This raises again too the certificates management issue for
>     WebCrypto, because this goes with SSL/TLS.
>
>     Not talking about ISSUE-22 which just means that our
>     implementation can not be moved entirely to WebCrypto for hash.
>
>     Maybe I missed some updates, I don't know the implementation
>     status for Google, Mozilla and Microsoft, but maybe one point of
>     interest for INRIA study could be: should I move Peersm project to
>     WebCrypto when it's there?
>
>     Of course the answer is likely to be yes, but for example why
>     should I trust the WebCrypto prng in browser X? What if it depends
>     on Windows?
>     What is the process to make sure that browsers are implementing
>     WebCrypto with no possibilities of leaks?
>
>     The point here is not to restart the same discussions but if this
>     can give some ideas to INRIA...
>
>     Regards
>
>     Aymeric
>
>     [1] http://www.peersm.com
>
>     Le 21/03/2014 20:58, Mark Watson a écrit :
>>
>>
>>     Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>     On Mar 21, 2014, at 11:58 AM, Ryan Sleevi <sleevi@google.com
>>     <mailto:sleevi@google.com>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>     On Fri, Mar 21, 2014 at 11:53 AM, Richard Barnes <rlb@ipv.sx
>>>     <mailto:rlb@ipv.sx>> wrote:
>>>
>>>         On Fri, Mar 21, 2014 at 2:38 PM, Ryan Sleevi
>>>         <sleevi@google.com <mailto:sleevi@google.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>>             On Fri, Mar 21, 2014 at 11:34 AM, Mark Watson
>>>             <watsonm@netflix.com <mailto:watsonm@netflix.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>>                 On Fri, Mar 21, 2014 at 9:51 AM, Ryan Sleevi
>>>                 <sleevi@google.com <mailto:sleevi@google.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>                     On Mar 21, 2014 9:18 AM, "Mark Watson"
>>>                     <watsonm@netflix.com
>>>                     <mailto:watsonm@netflix.com>> wrote:
>>>                     >
>>>                     >
>>>                     >
>>>                     >
>>>                     > On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 1:01 PM, Ryan Sleevi
>>>                     <sleevi@google.com <mailto:sleevi@google.com>>
>>>                     wrote:
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >> On Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 7:40 AM, Kelsey
>>>                     Cairns <kelsey.cairns@inria.fr
>>>                     <mailto:kelsey.cairns@inria.fr>> wrote:
>>>                     >>>
>>>                     >>> Dear W3C Crypto API WG,
>>>                     >>>
>>>                     >>> Here at INRIA we're starting a security
>>>                     analysis on the current draft
>>>                     >>> of the Crypto API, co-funded by INRIA and
>>>                     W3C. The idea is to try to
>>>                     >>> get some results in before the end of the
>>>                     last call period.
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >> Could you define what your actual goal is
>>>                     with this security analysis?
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >> Typically, one does a security analysis of a
>>>                     protocol - does it live to the expected goals,
>>>                     and provide the expected assurances. WebCrypto
>>>                     itself provides many algorithmic building
>>>                     blocks, and (with the exception, arguably, of
>>>                     Wrap/Unwrap), doesn't really implement a
>>>                     protocol itself (as opposed something like JOSE
>>>                     JWS or XML DSig, which are arguably both formats
>>>                     *and* protocols)
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >>>
>>>                     >>>
>>>                     >>> Doing analysis of an API spec is a slightly
>>>                     unusual activity, it can
>>>                     >>> often lead to conclusions like "if the API
>>>                     is implemented this way.."
>>>                     >>> or "if the application program uses the API
>>>                     like this.." which can
>>>                     >>> seem a bit superficial, but we will aim to
>>>                     produce something concrete
>>>                     >>> output in terms of implementation advice,
>>>                     test cases for
>>>                     >>> implementations, etc.
>>>                     >>>
>>>                     >>>
>>>                     >>> As an example of the kind of things we find,
>>>                     one of the things we were
>>>                     >>> looking at in the spec this morning was
>>>                     padding oracles on key unwrap
>>>                     >>> operations. These are common in
>>>                     implementations of PKCS#11, for
>>>                     >>> example.. Following the current WebCrypto
>>>                     spec, if you were to unwrap a key using
>>>                     >>> AES-CBC or RSA PKCS1v1.5, incorrect padding
>>>                     would lead to "DataError"
>>>                     >>> or " OperationError" respectively.
>>>                     Meanwhile, the error if the
>>>                     >>> ciphertext is correctly padded but the key
>>>                     is too long or too short,
>>>                     >>> the error is "SyntaxError". The fact that
>>>                     these are different *could*
>>>                     >>> be enough to allow a network attacker to
>>>                     obtain the encrypted key by
>>>                     >>> chosen ciphertext attack, which would be
>>>                     relevant say for use case 2.2
>>>                     >>> (Protected Document Exchange).
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >> Correct. This is a point of extreme tension
>>>                     within the working group - whether or not Key
>>>                     Wrapping / Unwrapping can provide security
>>>                     guarantees against the host code executing. This
>>>                     was the key of the debate as to whether or not
>>>                     to provide these primitives to begin with - or
>>>                     whether a web application can polyfill them.
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >> Individually, I remainly highly suspicious
>>>                     about this. As a security-minded individual, I
>>>                     can tell you there are dozens of ways to botch
>>>                     this, beyond just algorithm choice. As an
>>>                     editor, I can simply say "Please show more about
>>>                     how this is completely broken", so that the WG
>>>                     can take a closer look about the security
>>>                     guarantees it's attempting to make, and properly
>>>                     evaluate whether or not these APIs belong. I
>>>                     suspect that some members will insist they do,
>>>                     unfortunately, so guidance is welcome.
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >>>
>>>                     >>>
>>>                     >>> As a first step we were planning to look in
>>>                     more detail at the key
>>>                     >>> management subset of the API, but if there
>>>                     are any areas that are of
>>>                     >>> specific concern where you'd like us to take
>>>                     a closer look and you
>>>                     >>> haven't had time please let us know. All
>>>                     feedback welcome.
>>>                     >>>
>>>                     >>> Best,
>>>                     >>>
>>>                     >>> Graham Steel & Kelsey Cairns
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >> I think a clear point of use/misuse to
>>>                     examine would be be the issues previously
>>>                     discussed in ISSUE-21 (
>>>                     https://www.w3.org/2012/webcrypto/track/issues/21 )
>>>                     . The WG had, in the past, discussed requiring
>>>                     SSL/TLS for this API, as well as requiring more
>>>                     active mitigations for scripting issues via CSP
>>>                     (
>>>                     http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-webcrypto/2012Aug/0230.html
>>>                     ). There were and are some strong objections to
>>>                     this.
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >> Since part of your sponsorship includes
>>>                     "implementation advice", and conclusions like
>>>                     "if the application program uses the API like
>>>                     this", it would be interesting to see if INRIA
>>>                     can come up with any proofs of security where
>>>                     the code is delivered over unauthenticated
>>>                     connections (eg: HTTP)
>>>                     >>
>>>                     >> My continued assertion is that this is
>>>                     impossible - messages cannot be authenticated as
>>>                     coming from a user/UA, rather than a MITM.
>>>                     Likewise, under HTTP, a UA/user cannot
>>>                     authenticate messages as coming from the server,
>>>                     rather than a MITM. Encryption/Decryption
>>>                     results cannot be protected from being shared
>>>                     with Mallory, and that there can be no
>>>                     authenticated key exchange without an OOB means.
>>>                     Especially because Mallory can modify the JS
>>>                     operating environment, any proofs of correctness
>>>                     of a protocol go out the window, because the
>>>                     operating environment for those proofs is
>>>                     malleable. In a PKCS#11 world, this would be
>>>                     similar to a "hostile token" that has no
>>>                     pre-provisioned aspects.
>>>                     >
>>>                     >
>>>                     > Ryan is right, of course, that security
>>>                     assertions that can be made if the content is
>>>                     delivered over https cannot be made if he
>>>                     content is delivered over http. However, this
>>>                     does not mean there are no useful security
>>>                     assertions for the case where content is
>>>                     delivered over http. It would be good to have
>>>                     the nature of the assertions which can be made
>>>                     properly investigated and documented.
>>>                     >
>>>                     > Specifically, most of the assertions that can
>>>                     be made for the http case are in the "Trust on
>>>                     First Use" category: if an authentication key is
>>>                     agreed between client and server at time X, then
>>>                     the client can be sure at time Y that they are
>>>                     talking to the same entity they were talking to
>>>                     at time X (which may be A MITM, or may be the
>>>                     intended server, you don't know). Likewise the
>>>                     server can be sure they are talking to the same
>>>                     entity at time Y as they were at time X (which,
>>>                     again, may be either a MITM or may be the
>>>                     client). If you have other reasons to believe
>>>                     there was no MITM at time X, such assertions can
>>>                     be useful.
>>>                     >
>>>
>>>                     No, they really aren't.
>>>
>>>                     Regardless of how the key got there (and there
>>>                     are plenty of ways to screw that up), the
>>>                     fundamental analysis has to look at whether any
>>>                     of the assertions can be trusted if they are
>>>                     being processed by untrusted code:
>>>
>>>                     Sign: Did this message come from Alice or
>>>                     Mallory-injecting-script?
>>>
>>>                     Verify: Did this message come from Bob, or
>>>                     Mallory with Mallory-injected script saying Bob
>>>
>>>                     Encrypt: Is the Ciphertext sent to Bob the
>>>                     ciphertext that Alice intended, or modified by
>>>                     Mallory?
>>>
>>>                     Decrypt: Is the Plaintext processed by Alice
>>>                     what Bob sent in his Ciphertext, or is this Mallory?
>>>
>>>                     Wrap: Is this key the actually Alice's key, or
>>>                     is it a key of Mallory?
>>>
>>>                     Unwrap: Is the unwrapped key actually what Bob
>>>                     intended, or is it Mallorie's injected?
>>>
>>>                     Mallory can also force an unprovisioned state at
>>>                     any time, so you need a way to authenticate
>>>                     that. WebCrypto cannot provide that, such you
>>>                     must rely on side-channels - such as Named Key
>>>                     Discovery or TLS.
>>>
>>>                 Yep, as I said, the nature of the assertions which
>>>                 *can* be made with http content delivery are of the
>>>                 kind "This message came from the same entity
>>>                 (Alice|Mallory) as I agreed keys with at some
>>>                 previous time X."
>>>
>>>                 Are you disputing this assertion itself, or whether
>>>                 it is useful ?
>>>
>>>                 ...Mark
>>>
>>>
>>>             I'm disputing the assertion.
>>>
>>>             "I agreed keys with (Alice|Mallory) at some previous
>>>             time X" - that statement is self-containable
>>>             "This message came from (Alice|Mallory)"
>>>
>>>             You can't assert at Time Y that the message came from
>>>             the same party at Time X, if the *code* used to create
>>>             that message is delivered insecurely.
>>>
>>>             The point being you may have agreed upon keys with
>>>             Alice, but then the message came from Mallory - because
>>>             Mallory injected her code to create a custom message
>>>             using Alice's credentials.
>>>
>>>             Likewise, when you agree upon keys (at Time X), you
>>>             can't be sure whether you're agreeing with Alice or
>>>             Mallory, unless you're using a secure transport.
>>>
>>>             So without a secure transport at both Time X and Time Y,
>>>             you can't be sure that the party you agreed upon keys
>>>             with is the same party that authored the message using
>>>             those keys. Which is the point.
>>>
>>>
>>>         One nuance that might be worth noting though:
>>>
>>>         If you've marked the key with extractable == false, you at
>>>         least know that you're talking to the same *device* at time
>>>         Y as at time X.  (Modulo things like key extraction/cloning
>>>         below the JS layer, which aren't part of our threat model.)
>>>
>>>         I'm not sure how useful that property is given that there
>>>         many be Mallory's code running on that device, but...
>>>
>>>         --Richard
>>>
>>>
>>>     No, you don't have that guarantee - as the spec is clear to call
>>>     out that UA's are free to store the key however they want.
>>>
>>>     If we're talking only in the context of "Mallory, the remote
>>>     attacker", then sure, you have a guarantee of the same UA,
>>
>>     Which, as it happens, is one of the useful guarantees we are
>>     interested in for our service, even without anything else.
>>
>>     ...Mark
>>
>>>     but not necessarily the same origin (or same application code),
>>>     since as you note, Mallory may have postMessage'd the key to
>>>     herself for later use, and can always send requests to the
>>>     "Victim" at will later.
>>>
>>>
>
>     -- 
>     Peersm :http://www.peersm.com
>     node-Tor :https://www.github.com/Ayms/node-Tor
>     GitHub :https://www.github.com/Ayms
>
>

-- 
Peersm : http://www.peersm.com
node-Tor : https://www.github.com/Ayms/node-Tor
GitHub : https://www.github.com/Ayms

Received on Wednesday, 26 March 2014 00:38:13 UTC