Very nice trick Kent! Thank you for sharing.
That kind of information, from you guys the seL4 experts, is invaluable.

El mié, 3 nov 2021 a las 12:15, Kent Mcleod (<[email protected]>)
escribió:

> Hi Michael,
>
> Just trying to answer your question about how to get data from a
> simulated system to a host system, the way we do it for sel4test and
> sel4bench is to use the serial console and grep for magic escape
> strings.  It isn't foolproof but having something like:
> printf("<digest>%s</digest>\n", digest);  from the simulated machine
> can be captured automatically by the host via matching the input
> character stream from the console looking to match
> <digest>.*</digest>.  We use expect
> (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expect) or the python wrapper pexpect
> for scripting this and it's how we extract seL4test results and the
> sel4bench benchmark results that are automatically posted to
> https://sel4.systems/About/Performance/ via capturing the serial
> stream.  (
> https://github.com/seL4/sel4bench/runs/4064401581?check_suite_focus=true
> shows the output where the benchmark results are just dumped to the
> console).
>
> Kent.
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 27, 2021 at 6:02 PM Hugo V.C. <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > I really can understand Michael's frustration. As I pointed out many
> times
> > in the past, IMHO seL4 documentation is the weakest point of all the
> > ecosysyem and a real life stop barrier for many early adopters that would
> > love to familiarize with it. Many of those early adopters willl or will
> not
> > evangelize the rest of the World about using seL4 depending on their
> "user
> > experience".
> >
> > I'm aware that documentation can not cover every single scenario, anyway
> > IMHO, the most common ones should be there very well documented. I'm also
> > aware of the lack of resources for this task, anyway, I still think this
> is
> > a pending issue that, once improved, will boost seL4 adoption by several
> > orders of magnitude.
> >
> > Let's not fear about "bad usage" of seL4. Let's fear no usage at all.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > El mié., 27 oct. 2021 5:49, Gernot Heiser <[email protected]> escribió:
> >
> > > Thanks Michael.
> > >
> > > Just to note: While what I suggested is “easy” conceptually, that
> doesn’t
> > > mean our present framework make it easy to implement. I’m not the
> CAmkES
> > > expert, but am aware that it’s not the easiest thing to deal with.
> > >
> > > Gernot
> > >
> > > > On 27 Oct 2021, at 14:05, Michael Neises <[email protected]>
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Gernot and all,
> > > >
> > > > No, you have it all right. It's only that I'm frustrated because I
> > > cannot see the implementation of what everyone so offhandedly calls
> easy.
> > > > I can see how to grant R/O access to a part of the user-level address
> > > space, but I don't see how to grant R/O access to a useful address
> space.
> > > > I've asked about it here before, and I spent quite a long time
> bringing
> > > kernel modules to the virtualized-linux space in an effort to realize
> this
> > > end.
> > > > In my inexperience, I took it personally when I was told what I
> spent so
> > > long creating was worthless for this effort, but in a lasting way I
> realize
> > > knowledge has value in its own right.
> > > > Hugo is obviously well-experienced and knowledgeable, and I respect
> his
> > > opinion highly.
> > > >
> > > > I'm sure I will come back with a more appropriately worded question
> > > after going back to the source, or maybe I will surprise you with some
> > > amusing solution.
> > > >
> > > > Sincerely,
> > > > Michael Neises
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Tue, Oct 26, 2021 at 12:07 PM Gernot Heiser <[email protected]>
> > > wrote:
> > > > Folks,
> > > >
> > > > I’m not sure what triggered that reaction of Michael’s quoted by Hugo
> > > below, but it must have been something off-list. Certainly the
> discussion I
> > > saw on the list was perfectly polite and constructive, let’s keep it
> that
> > > way please.
> > > >
> > > > In terms of the technical issues, I can only agree with Hugo: I fail
> to
> > > see how the guest measuring itself can give you any integrity
> guarantee. If
> > > you assume the guest to be compromised (and why else would you want to
> > > measure it) then you have to also assume it to be arbitrarily
> malicious,
> > > and thus it could just fake the measurement and return a known “good
> value”
> > > that has nothing to do with the correct measurement.
> > > >
> > > > To ensure integrity, the measurement has to be done outside the
> guest.
> > > And doing that should not be hard: Have a separate measurement
> component
> > > that has R/O access to all of the guest’s address space, and it can
> perform
> > > the measurement in a tamper-proof fashion.
> > > >
> > > > Am I missing something?
> > > >
> > > > Gernot
> > > >
> > > > > On 26 Oct 2021, at 05:29, Hugo V.C. <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Hi Michael!
> > > > >
> > > > > Adding the full list to the thread again (we missed them at some
> > > point...).
> > > > >
> > > > > "I appreciate the complete lack of partial credit, and I consider
> you
> > > find
> > > > > my work to be a waste."
> > > > >
> > > > > I don't think anyone thinks your work is a waste. Personally, I
> just
> > > gave
> > > > > my opinion about the architecture, but of course the final
> decision is
> > > > > yours, as it is your baby :)
> > > > >
> > > > > Maybe someone on the list can answer you with a more specific
> example
> > > you
> > > > > require (even if they already gave some hints...).
> > > > >
> > > > > Cheers,
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > El lun, 25 oct 2021 a las 19:11, Michael Neises (<
> > > [email protected]>)
> > > > > escribió:
> > > > >
> > > > >> Hugo (and Everyone),
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Thank you for the reminders.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> I believe it's trivial to provide or restrict caps to any IO
> device.
> > > So,
> > > > >> yes, I believe with the board's reference manual it should
> > > theoretically be
> > > > >> quite easy to restrict them all.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> I appreciate the complete lack of partial credit, and I consider
> you
> > > find
> > > > >> my work to be a waste. So with that in mind I'll ask once more:
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Has anyone on the planet ever performed such an independent
> > > measurement of
> > > > >> a virtual machine, or is seL4 really as unusable as indicated?
> > > > >>
> > > > >> I don't want to spend any amount of time barking up a tree that
> > > doesn't
> > > > >> exist.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Cheers,
> > > > >> Michael Neises
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >> On Mon, Oct 25, 2021, 01:02 Hugo V.C. <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> > > > >>
> > > > >>> Hi Michael,
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> as I commented, it depends on the runtime environment. The
> scenario I
> > > > >>> described, even if challenging, it is just one of many you could
> > > face. Let
> > > > >>> me explain myself.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> Really, it is irrelevant if the full Linux (or whatever OS) VM is
> > > > >>> "inmutable". At some point you need to load code into memory and
> run
> > > it.
> > > > >>> Then, only formal verified code (like seL4) is reasonably secure.
> > > Being
> > > > >>> pedant, anything else simply it is not.
> > > > >>> Why?
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> The reason is you will never be sure what interactions the VM OS
> (in
> > > your
> > > > >>> example Linux) will have with the outside World. Do you have NTP
> > > client...?
> > > > >>> HTTP clients...(wget)? DNS clients...? Are you absolutely sure
> you
> > > know
> > > > >>> every line of this VM OS (Linux) and can guarantee there will be
> no
> > > out of
> > > > >>> control interaction with the outside Word?
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> Let's go a step ahead in the offensive mindset. Even in the case
> you
> > > are
> > > > >>> building a siloed "air gap" machine (no networking), do you have
> full
> > > > >>> awareness of all the I/O mechanisms of the device so you can
> > > guarantee
> > > > >>> there will be no interaction with the outside World...?
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> For that reasons code is formally verified. That is the only way
> to
> > > be
> > > > >>> sure things are reasonably secure.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> If we accept the last statement as true, any integrity check done
> > > from
> > > > >>> inside of unverified code, is, by definition, not trustable. But
> of
> > > course
> > > > >>> you can do it.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> On the other side, what I don't get is, if you consider (for
> whatever
> > > > >>> reason) your guest OS is inmutable... then why you want to check
> > > integrity
> > > > >>> from inside...?
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> In embedded World, integrity checks always need something
> > > (theoretically)
> > > > >>> really inmutable (i.e. CPU fuses). You need to check/anchor from
> the
> > > most
> > > > >>> trustable source you have. That's why in embedded devices there
> are
> > > those
> > > > >>> "funny" boot sequences with chain of trust where different parts
> of
> > > the
> > > > >>> system (from most simple to most complex) are used to verify the
> > > next step
> > > > >>> in the boot chain.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> Having said that, of course you can do integrity checks from
> inside
> > > the
> > > > >>> VM itself, but IMHO will be a waste of trusted computing power of
> > > seL4
> > > > >>> platform.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> Please excuse me in advance if I misunderstood your message.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> A very interesting topic.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> Cheers,
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> El lun., 25 oct. 2021 2:34, Michael Neises <
> [email protected]>
> > > > >>> escribió:
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>> Hugo and Everyone,
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>> Thanks for the response. This is something I've worried about as
> > > well.
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>> I've been under the impression that once I compile a seL4 image,
> > > that
> > > > >>>> image should be static no matter how many times I boot it. That
> is,
> > > I've
> > > > >>>> looked around for persistent storage to use, and my solution
> has so
> > > far
> > > > >>>> been to recompile the entire seL4 image in order to insert new
> > > data. So
> > > > >>>> even when I "touch" files in the Linux virtual machine, they are
> > > completely
> > > > >>>> forgotten when I reboot the system. For a time I thought of
> this as
> > > an
> > > > >>>> impediment, but I soon came to realize it as a benefit. So I
> > > suppose I
> > > > >>>> should clarify that when I said "Linux kernel" in that quote, I
> > > really
> > > > >>>> meant this particular Linux image which is prepared at
> compile-time
> > > and
> > > > >>>> virtualized by seL4 at runtime.
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>> For the last several months, I've been operating under the
> > > assumption
> > > > >>>> that there is no way for me, even as a developer, to "manipulate
> > > the seL4
> > > > >>>> image I used to boot myself." Namely, I've been trying to jump
> > > through all
> > > > >>>> these virtual network hoops because I couldn't figure out a way
> to
> > > make
> > > > >>>> persistent changes to the image. So, as I said, I had taken it
> for
> > > granted
> > > > >>>> that a seL4 image was immutable in this way, but I recognize
> your
> > > point
> > > > >>>> that maybe it is not. My argument has been that the seL4 image
> is
> > > loaded
> > > > >>>> onto an SD card, and I can forbid access to that SD card, which
> > > means the
> > > > >>>> image should be guaranteed to be untouchable except maybe by the
> > > seL4
> > > > >>>> kernel itself.
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>> I believe seL4's proofs uphold my argument regarding
> "capabilities"
> > > to
> > > > >>>> the SD card, but I admit a slim understanding of seL4's "caps."
> I
> > > will be
> > > > >>>> happy as always to be edified.
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>> Cheers and Good Evening to you,
> > > > >>>> Michael Neises
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>> On Sun, Oct 24, 2021 at 4:32 PM Hugo V.C. <[email protected]
> >
> > > wrote:
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>>> Hi Michael,
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>> "Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think if the very first
> > > thing
> > > > >>>>> the Linux kernel does is measure itself, before it is even
> > > connected
> > > > >>>>> to a network, then there is simply no attack surface"
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>> My 5 cents: it is not so simple... it depends on the specfic
> run
> > > time
> > > > >>>>> environment.
> > > > >>>>> Anyway, just as an example, some years ago I was challenged
> with a
> > > > >>>>> similar scenario: an appliance running Linux firmware with an
> > > embedded
> > > > >>>>> integrity mechanism in the kernel code that checked its own
> > > integrity and
> > > > >>>>> also the integrity of all loaded kernel modules (that were
> doing
> > > integrity
> > > > >>>>> checks of the file system). Once initial modules were loaded no
> > > more were
> > > > >>>>> allowed to be loaded.
> > > > >>>>> Anyway, the running kernel was very outdated, so I was able to
> > > find a
> > > > >>>>> vulnerability that allowed me to inject my own data/code in the
> > > kernel
> > > > >>>>> space. The problem was persistence: most of the file system was
> > > read
> > > > >>>>> only... with the exception of some config files in the compact
> > > flash
> > > > >>>>> storage... a second bug in the parsing of the config files
> (that
> > > allowed
> > > > >>>>> user space command execution to trigger the kernel vuln) gave
> me
> > > the
> > > > >>>>> persistence I wanted for my kernel level vulnerability in that
> > > "inmutable"
> > > > >>>>> system. Game over.
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>> So, it really depends on your environment. As long you have I/O
> > > data
> > > > >>>>> operation were an attacker can interact to some persistent
> > > storage, then
> > > > >>>>> there's room for persistent intrusion no matter the runtime
> checks
> > > you do
> > > > >>>>> on the kernel or the file system. There have been plenty of
> even
> > > more
> > > > >>>>> elaborated attacks/tricks on heavily siloed and isolated and
> > > "inmutable"
> > > > >>>>> systems that have been carried out in the computing history. In
> > > fact, those
> > > > >>>>> are the interesting ones... :-)
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>> Hopes this helps.
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>> El dom., 24 oct. 2021 19:46, Michael Neises <
> > > [email protected]>
> > > > >>>>> escribió:
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>>> Hello seL4 developers,
> > > > >>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>> Thank you for the replies.
> > > > >>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>> For the sake of clarity, the system works like this:
> > > > >>>>>> At compile time, some expected digest values are made
> available
> > > only
> > > > >>>>>> to a
> > > > >>>>>> distinct CAmkES component. At the time of first-Linux-boot, a
> > > kernel
> > > > >>>>>> module
> > > > >>>>>> takes several measurements of the other kernel modules present
> > > > >>>>>> (including
> > > > >>>>>> itself). It reports these digests outwards to CAmkES, where
> they
> > > are
> > > > >>>>>> compared against the expected values. It is the
> "pre-compile-time
> > > > >>>>>> provisioning of these expected digests" in which I am
> interested.
> > > At
> > > > >>>>>> this
> > > > >>>>>> time, I can simulate the system and compute these digests,
> but the
> > > > >>>>>> only way
> > > > >>>>>> I have to extract them is to copy them by hand off the
> screen. To
> > > be
> > > > >>>>>> totally explicit, I want to extract these values in order to
> > > re-compile
> > > > >>>>>> them into a system that knows its expected digest values. I
> want
> > > to
> > > > >>>>>> have an
> > > > >>>>>> initial simulation where I extract these digests, so that in
> the
> > > > >>>>>> subsequent compilation and simulations, the system is aware
> what
> > > values
> > > > >>>>>> these digests are required to take.
> > > > >>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>> Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think if the very first
> > > thing
> > > > >>>>>> the
> > > > >>>>>> Linux kernel does is measure itself, before it is even
> connected
> > > to a
> > > > >>>>>> network, then there is simply no attack surface. Of course I'm
> > > very
> > > > >>>>>> happy
> > > > >>>>>> to be wrong, but I don't see who the attacker is in this
> > > situation.
> > > > >>>>>> Certainly, there remains an open question of how to extend
> these
> > > > >>>>>> measurements meaningfully into the space where there is a
> viable
> > > attack
> > > > >>>>>> surface (after enabling a network adapter), but I consider
> that
> > > > >>>>>> question to
> > > > >>>>>> be beside the point for now (some future work). If there is
> some
> > > way
> > > > >>>>>> for me
> > > > >>>>>> to inspect the run-time data of the Linux system without
> relying
> > > > >>>>>> somewhat
> > > > >>>>>> on a tool inside the Linux instance, I would very much like to
> > > know
> > > > >>>>>> about
> > > > >>>>>> it. My strategy follows the same path as the vm-introspect
> > > example app
> > > > >>>>>> (which I'm under the impression was created for this explicit
> > > purpose),
> > > > >>>>>> which itself trusts implicitly the Linux instance. Again, to
> be
> > > > >>>>>> entirely
> > > > >>>>>> explicit, there does not appear to be any information
> anywhere on
> > > a
> > > > >>>>>> way to
> > > > >>>>>> meaningfully inspect a virtualized Linux system without
> trusting
> > > it
> > > > >>>>>> even
> > > > >>>>>> the slightest bit. I would be elated to be corrected; if
> someone
> > > can
> > > > >>>>>> show
> > > > >>>>>> me how to scrape (from the seL4 side exclusively) all the bits
> > > from a
> > > > >>>>>> virtual Linux system and reassemble those bits into
> > > > >>>>>> semantically-valuable
> > > > >>>>>> information, I'm sure you will not hear from me for several
> months
> > > > >>>>>> while I
> > > > >>>>>> rebuild everything I have. At this time that does not appear
> to be
> > > > >>>>>> possible.
> > > > >>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>> Cheers,
> > > > >>>>>> Michael Neises
> > > > >>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>> On Tue, Oct 19, 2021 at 3:46 PM Michael Neises <
> > > > >>>>>> [email protected]>
> > > > >>>>>> wrote:
> > > > >>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>>> Hello seL4 developers,
> > > > >>>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>>> I want to be able to retrieve data from seL4's virtual Linux
> > > > >>>>>> machine, in
> > > > >>>>>>> order to store it in a persistent way. Namely, I want to be
> able
> > > to
> > > > >>>>>>> simulate a seL4 kernel, boot its Linux virtual machine,
> compute
> > > some
> > > > >>>>>> hash
> > > > >>>>>>> digests, and then export those hash digests. These digests
> are
> > > > >>>>>> valuable
> > > > >>>>>>> because they represent the "clean room" runtime-state of the
> > > linux
> > > > >>>>>> machine.
> > > > >>>>>>> Currently I can export these digests by way of hand-eye
> > > > >>>>>> coordination, but I
> > > > >>>>>>> consider this unusable as a piece of software.
> > > > >>>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>>> To date I've taken two main approaches: CAmkES FileServer or
> > > virtual
> > > > >>>>>>> networking. I'm under the impression that the FileServer
> changes
> > > are
> > > > >>>>>> not
> > > > >>>>>>> persistent through reboot, and even if they were, to change
> the
> > > boot
> > > > >>>>>> image
> > > > >>>>>>> after compile-time would seem to fly in the face of seL4's
> > > > >>>>>> principles.
> > > > >>>>>>> Virtual networking seems to promise I can host my digests on
> a
> > > > >>>>>> webpage that
> > > > >>>>>>> is visible to my "root host" machine; that is, the simulated
> > > seL4's
> > > > >>>>>> linux
> > > > >>>>>>> instance hosts a site available on my 192.168.x.x network. I
> know
> > > > >>>>>> there is
> > > > >>>>>>> a seL4webserver app as part of the seL4 repositories which
> > > claims to
> > > > >>>>>> do
> > > > >>>>>>> this, but unfortunately its prose is unhelpful and it doesn't
> > > seem
> > > > >>>>>> to work
> > > > >>>>>>> even when it compiles and simulates.
> > > > >>>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>>> I've taken two distinct strategies to investigate the virtual
> > > network
> > > > >>>>>>> approach. First, I tried to get it to work on my normal
> stack:
> > > > >>>>>> Windows 10
> > > > >>>>>>> using WSL2 using a Docker container to simulate the seL4
> image.
> > > The
> > > > >>>>>> problem
> > > > >>>>>>> with this approach is that it appears I'm required to blindly
> > > thread
> > > > >>>>>> 3 or 4
> > > > >>>>>>> needles all at once, without getting feedback more
> descriptive
> > > than
> > > > >>>>>> "you
> > > > >>>>>>> didn't do it." In other words, there does not appear to be a
> > > partial
> > > > >>>>>>> success available, and without ICMP ping, I honestly have no
> idea
> > > > >>>>>> how to
> > > > >>>>>>> debug these "virtual" networks.
> > > > >>>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>>> Next, I tried simplifying my stack by installing the
> dependencies
> > > > >>>>>> natively
> > > > >>>>>>> on a Debian 10 machine, which should bypass several layers
> of the
> > > > >>>>>> virtual
> > > > >>>>>>> network I was suggesting in my first strategy.
> Unfortunately, I
> > > met
> > > > >>>>>> with
> > > > >>>>>>> the same "AttributeError: module 'yaml' has no attribute
> > > > >>>>>> 'FullLoader'"
> > > > >>>>>>> error that inspired me to begin using Docker several years
> ago.
> > > Of
> > > > >>>>>> course I
> > > > >>>>>>> should note that "pip/pip2/pip3 install pyyaml" all report
> that
> > > > >>>>>> pyyaml is
> > > > >>>>>>> already installed, so I would be in debt to anyone who has an
> > > idea
> > > > >>>>>> about
> > > > >>>>>>> that error.
> > > > >>>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>>> To conclude, I find virtual networks opaque, and I would be
> > > grateful
> > > > >>>>>> for
> > > > >>>>>>> any guidance. If you have a different idea how I might
> achieve my
> > > > >>>>>> goal, I
> > > > >>>>>>> would be similarly effusive in my thanks.
> > > > >>>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>>> Cheers,
> > > > >>>>>>> Michael Neises
> > > > >>>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>> _______________________________________________
> > > > >>>>>> Devel mailing list -- [email protected]
> > > > >>>>>> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
> > > > >>>>>>
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > Devel mailing list -- [email protected]
> > > > > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > Devel mailing list -- [email protected]
> > > > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Devel mailing list -- [email protected]
> > > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
>
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