Re: [PATCH] [v2] docs: clarify security-bugs disclosure policy

From: Alan Cox
Date: Fri Mar 09 2018 - 15:46:09 EST


On Wed, 07 Mar 2018 13:46:24 -0800
Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> From: Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> I think we need to soften the language a bit. It might scare folks
> off, especially the:
>
> We prefer to fully disclose the bug as soon as possible.
>
> which is not really the case. Linus says:
>
> It's not full disclosure, it's not coordinated disclosure,
> and it's not "no disclosure". It's more like just "timely
> open fixes".
>
> I changed a bit of the wording in here, but mostly to remove the word
> "disclosure" since it seems to mean very specific things to people
> that we do not mean here.
>

If you want to be taken seriously then I think minimum you also need to
- Give a GPG key for messages to the list
- State what security is in place (encryption etc) to protect the list
itself

There are probably a lot more things people would ask but given the
policy now clear that it's basically just an 'early tip off'/'make sure
Linus doesn't miss this' list for very short notification periods doesn't
matter so much.

Alan