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Be more explicit about security implications in project description #1020

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laolux opened this issue Mar 14, 2022 · 1 comment
Closed

Be more explicit about security implications in project description #1020

laolux opened this issue Mar 14, 2022 · 1 comment
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1. Feature request A request for a new feature 2. Documentation The issue is related to the user documentation

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@laolux
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laolux commented Mar 14, 2022

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Quite a few people tend to believe that toolbox is a security mechanism to run untrusted software in a container. This is not really true, as toolbox containers can access all files in the user's home directory and thus cause havoc.

Describe the solution you'd like
Make it more explicit in the project documentation that a toolbox can access all private files of a user and thus does not protect against malicious software. I know that it is written that toolbox provides "access to the user's home directory", but I think it would be good to explicitly spell out that this means that malicious software inside a toolbox can steal, encrypt and delete all your personal data, just like malicious software outside a toolbox.

Describe alternatives you've considered
One could argue that it should be obvious that toolbox does not protect against malicious software, but I think it would be better to explicitly warn about that.
@laolux laolux added the 1. Feature request A request for a new feature label Mar 14, 2022
@matthiasclasen matthiasclasen added the 2. Documentation The issue is related to the user documentation label Oct 3, 2022
debarshiray added a commit to debarshiray/toolbox that referenced this issue Nov 29, 2022
@debarshiray
README.md: Remove trailing newline
35dd584 
Fallout from bafbbe8

containers#1020
debarshiray added a commit to debarshiray/toolbox that referenced this issue Nov 29, 2022
@debarshiray
README.md: Clarify that Toolbx isn't a security mechanism
f244311 
Using the word 'containerized' gives the false impression of heightened
security.  As if it's a mechanism to run untrusted software in a
sandboxed environment without access to the user's private data (such as
$HOME), hardware peripherals (such as cameras and microphones), etc..
That's not what Toolbx is for.

Toolbx aims to offer an interactive command line environment for
development and troubleshooting the host operating system, without
having to install software on the host.  That's all.  It makes no
promise about security beyond what's already available on the usual
command line environment on the host that everybody is familiar with.

containers#1020
@debarshiray debarshiray mentioned this issue Nov 29, 2022
Merged
debarshiray added a commit to debarshiray/toolbox that referenced this issue Nov 29, 2022
@debarshiray
README.md: Clarify that Toolbx isn't a security mechanism
3cc1f4e 
Using the word 'containerized' gives the false impression of heightened
security.  As if it's a mechanism to run untrusted software in a
sandboxed environment without access to the user's private data (such as
$HOME), hardware peripherals (such as cameras and microphones), etc..
That's not what Toolbx is for.

Toolbx aims to offer an interactive command line environment for
development and troubleshooting the host operating system, without
having to install software on the host.  That's all.  It makes no
promise about security beyond what's already available in the usual
command line environment on the host that everybody is familiar with.

containers#1020
debarshiray added a commit to debarshiray/toolbox that referenced this issue Nov 29, 2022
@debarshiray
README.md: Clarify that Toolbx isn't a security mechanism
d0fe8c4 
Using the word 'containerized' gives the false impression of heightened
security.  As if it's a mechanism to run untrusted software in a
sandboxed environment without access to the user's private data (such as
$HOME), hardware peripherals (such as cameras and microphones), etc..
That's not what Toolbx is for.

Toolbx aims to offer an interactive command line environment for
development and troubleshooting the host operating system, without
having to install software on the host.  That's all.  It makes no
promise about security beyond what's already available in the usual
command line environment on the host that everybody is familiar with.

containers#1020
debarshiray added a commit to debarshiray/containertoolbx.org that referenced this issue Nov 29, 2022
@debarshiray
Clarify that Toolbx isn't a security mechanism
d54a2ea 
Using the word 'containerized' gives the false impression of heightened
security.  As if it's a mechanism to run untrusted software in a
sandboxed environment without access to the user's private data (such as
$HOME), hardware peripherals (such as cameras and microphones), etc..
That's not what Toolbx is for.

Toolbx aims to offer an interactive command line environment for
development and troubleshooting the host operating system, without
having to install software on the host.  That's all.  It makes no
promise about security beyond what's already available in the usual
command line environment on the host that everybody is familiar with.

containers/toolbox#1020
@debarshiray debarshiray mentioned this issue Nov 29, 2022
Merged
@debarshiray
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Done in #1182 and containers/containertoolbx.org#29

@debarshiray debarshiray mentioned this issue Nov 29, 2022
Closed
debarshiray added a commit to containers/containertoolbx.org that referenced this issue Mar 2, 2024
@debarshiray
Put the rest of the earlier introductory text in manual.md
795ca80 
... and slightly shorten the existing text to accommodate it.

The second-level manual.md isn't as prime a real estate as the top-level
index.md, and Toolbx is too closely associated with Fedora to not
highlight how it fits with Fedora Silverblue and Workstation.

Secondly, the earlier introductory text was carefully massaged in
consultation with various stakeholders over the years to strike the
right balance between making it appealing and understable to the casual
reader, and technical accuracy and details for those who are intimately
familiar with Toolbx.  Removing it without careful thought can re-ignite
needless debates about topics like security that are best avoided right
now [1].

[1] containers/toolbox#183
    containers/toolbox#1020
@debarshiray debarshiray mentioned this issue Aug 2, 2024
Closed
debarshiray added a commit to debarshiray/toolbox that referenced this issue Sep 26, 2024
@debarshiray
doc/toolbox: Clarify that Toolbx isn't a security mechanism
47137ce 
Using the word 'containerized' gives the false impression of heightened
security.  As if it's a mechanism to run untrusted software in a
sandboxed environment without access to the user's private data (such as
$HOME), hardware peripherals (such as cameras and microphones), etc..
That's not what Toolbx is for.

Toolbx aims to offer an interactive command line environment for
development and troubleshooting the host operating system, without
having to install software on the host.  That's all.  It makes no
promise about security beyond what's already available in the usual
command line environment on the host that everybody is familiar with.

containers#1020
debarshiray added a commit to debarshiray/toolbox that referenced this issue Sep 26, 2024
@debarshiray
doc/toolbox: Clarify that Toolbx isn't a security mechanism
861cf85 
Using the word 'containerized' gives the false impression of heightened
security.  As if it's a mechanism to run untrusted software in a
sandboxed environment without access to the user's private data (such as
$HOME), hardware peripherals (such as cameras and microphones), etc..
That's not what Toolbx is for.

Toolbx aims to offer an interactive command line environment for
development and troubleshooting the host operating system, without
having to install software on the host.  That's all.  It makes no
promise about security beyond what's already available in the usual
command line environment on the host that everybody is familiar with.

containers#1020
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@debarshiray @matthiasclasen @laolux