Hi,
I would like to start a discussion about adding built-in support for
code signing native executable file and dynamic library on Windows
directly as part of the JDK build, in a similar fashion to what already
exists for macOS.
Most, if not all vendors already ensure that every native executable
files and dynamic libraries that are part of the binary builds of
OpenJDK that they distribute to their customers for the Windows platform
are digitally signed using a set of Microsoft APIs and tools called
Authenticode[1].
Since this is not a part of the existing JDK build system, however, this
means that each vendor has had to come up with their own way to
integrate the code signing step into their build pipeline.
As the shape of the JDK binary deliverable evolved to accommodate
features like modules, signing binaries as an after-the-fact process has
gradually become more complicated and error prone.
For instance, with the introduction of JEP 493 (Linking Run-Time Images
without JMODs)[2], adding a digital signature to files after jlink runs
as part of the build to create the JDK image when the new
'--generate-linkable-runtime' feature is enabled will cause any
subsequent uses of jlink from this image to fail with a "Error:<xxxx>
has been modified" error.
The solution to that particular problem is to ensure that the signature
is applied before jlink generates the checksums it will later use to
detect , and I believe the best way to achieve that is to integrate code
signing as an option in the jdk build process.
This would also offer vendors who decide to opt into using this new
feature to potentially simplify their overall build process.
For instance, this could get rid of extra steps such as filtering out
dlls that are part of the bundle but were not built as part of the jdk
(e.g. the Microsoft C and C++ runtime redistributables), or making sure
that 'exe' and 'dll' files packaged in the .jmod files are also signed.
As a stated before a very similar option already exists for code signing
on the macOS platform, which further reinforce my thinking that such a
feature would make sense for Windows as well.
I have drafted a prototype for this and would be happy to create JBS
issue and submit a PR to move this forward, provided there is interest.
Thanks,
Frederic Thevenet (fthevenet)
[1]
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/internet-explorer/ie-developer/platform-apis/ms537359(v=vs.85)
[2] https://openjdk.org/jeps/493
