提交 136cd19d 编写于 作者: D Daniel P. Berrange 提交者: Stefan Hajnoczi

Describe flaws in qcow/qcow2 encryption in the docs

The qemu-img.texi / qemu-doc.texi files currently describe the
qcow2/qcow2 encryption thus

  "Encryption uses the AES format which is very secure (128 bit
   keys). Use a long password (16 characters) to get maximum
   protection."

While AES is indeed a strong encryption system, the way that
QCow/QCow2 use it results in a poor/weak encryption system.
Due to the use of predictable IVs, based on the sector number
extended to 128 bits, it is vulnerable to chosen plaintext
attacks which can reveal the existence of encrypted data.

The direct use of the user passphrase as the encryption key
also leads to an inability to change the passphrase of an
image. If passphrase is ever compromised the image data will
all be vulnerable, since it cannot be re-encrypted. The admin
has to clone the image files with a new passphrase and then
use a program like shred to secure erase all the old files.

Recommend against any use of QCow/QCow2 encryption, directing
users to dm-crypt / LUKS which can meet modern cryptography
best practices.

[Changed "Qcow" to "qcow" for consistency.
--Stefan]
Signed-off-by: NDaniel P. Berrange <berrange@redhat.com>
Reviewed-by: NMarkus Armbruster <armbru@redhat.com>
Reviewed-by: NEric Blake <eblake@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: NStefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@redhat.com>
上级 89e4a51c
......@@ -547,10 +547,27 @@ File name of a base image (see @option{create} subcommand)
@item backing_fmt
Image format of the base image
@item encryption
If this option is set to @code{on}, the image is encrypted.
If this option is set to @code{on}, the image is encrypted with 128-bit AES-CBC.
The use of encryption in qcow and qcow2 images is considered to be flawed by
modern cryptography standards, suffering from a number of design problems:
@itemize @minus
@item The AES-CBC cipher is used with predictable initialization vectors based
on the sector number. This makes it vulnerable to chosen plaintext attacks
which can reveal the existence of encrypted data.
@item The user passphrase is directly used as the encryption key. A poorly
chosen or short passphrase will compromise the security of the encryption.
@item In the event of the passphrase being compromised there is no way to
change the passphrase to protect data in any qcow images. The files must
be cloned, using a different encryption passphrase in the new file. The
original file must then be securely erased using a program like shred,
though even this is ineffective with many modern storage technologies.
@end itemize
Encryption uses the AES format which is very secure (128 bit keys). Use
a long password (16 characters) to get maximum protection.
Use of qcow / qcow2 encryption is thus strongly discouraged. Users are
recommended to use an alternative encryption technology such as the
Linux dm-crypt / LUKS system.
@item cluster_size
Changes the qcow2 cluster size (must be between 512 and 2M). Smaller cluster
......
......@@ -409,10 +409,27 @@ File name of a base image (see @option{create} subcommand)
@item backing_fmt
Image format of the base image
@item encryption
If this option is set to @code{on}, the image is encrypted.
If this option is set to @code{on}, the image is encrypted with 128-bit AES-CBC.
Encryption uses the AES format which is very secure (128 bit keys). Use
a long password (16 characters) to get maximum protection.
The use of encryption in qcow and qcow2 images is considered to be flawed by
modern cryptography standards, suffering from a number of design problems:
@itemize @minus
@item The AES-CBC cipher is used with predictable initialization vectors based
on the sector number. This makes it vulnerable to chosen plaintext attacks
which can reveal the existence of encrypted data.
@item The user passphrase is directly used as the encryption key. A poorly
chosen or short passphrase will compromise the security of the encryption.
@item In the event of the passphrase being compromised there is no way to
change the passphrase to protect data in any qcow images. The files must
be cloned, using a different encryption passphrase in the new file. The
original file must then be securely erased using a program like shred,
though even this is ineffective with many modern storage technologies.
@end itemize
Use of qcow / qcow2 encryption is thus strongly discouraged. Users are
recommended to use an alternative encryption technology such as the
Linux dm-crypt / LUKS system.
@item cluster_size
Changes the qcow2 cluster size (must be between 512 and 2M). Smaller cluster
......
Markdown is supported
0% .
You are about to add 0 people to the discussion. Proceed with caution.
先完成此消息的编辑!
想要评论请 注册