Add a definition of the security model to the documentation.

diff --git a/docs/Makefile b/docs/Makefile
index cfd84ac..e7143b2 100644 (file)
--- a/docs/Makefile
+++ b/docs/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-all: index.html concepts.html reference.html \
+all: index.html concepts.html reference.html security.html \
        generator_flow.png
 
 %.png: %.svg

diff --git a/docs/menu.rst b/docs/menu.rst
index 4c643bc..a49b22c 100644 (file)
--- a/docs/menu.rst
+++ b/docs/menu.rst
@@ -3,8 +3,9 @@
     1) `Overview`_
     2) `Concepts`_
     3) `API reference`_
+    4) `Security model`_
     
 .. _`Overview`: index.html
 .. _`Concepts`: concepts.html
 .. _`API reference`: reference.html
-
+.. _`Security model`: security.html

diff --git a/docs/security.rst b/docs/security.rst
new file mode 100644 (file)
index 0000000..e865f83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/security.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+======================
+Nanopb: Security model
+======================
+
+.. include :: menu.rst
+
+.. contents ::
+
+
+
+Importance of security in a Protocol Buffers library
+====================================================
+In the context of protocol buffers, security comes into play when decoding
+untrusted data. Naturally, if the attacker can modify the contents of a
+protocol buffers message, he can feed the application any values possible.
+Therefore the application itself must be prepared to receive untrusted values.
+
+Where nanopb plays a part is preventing the attacker from running arbitrary
+code on the target system. Mostly this means that there must not be any
+possibility to cause buffer overruns, memory corruption or invalid pointers
+by the means of crafting a malicious message.
+
+Division of trusted and untrusted data
+======================================
+The following data is regarded as **trusted**. It must be under the control of
+the application writer. Malicious data in these structures could cause
+security issues, such as execution of arbitrary code:
+
+1. Callback and extension fields in message structures given to pb_encode()
+   and pb_decode(). These fields are memory pointers, and are generated
+   depending on the .proto file.
+2. The automatically generated field definitions, i.e. *pb_field_t* lists.
+3. Contents of the *pb_istream_t* and *pb_ostream_t* structures (this does not
+   mean the contents of the stream itself, just the stream definition).
+
+The following data is regarded as **untrusted**. Invalid/malicious data in
+these will cause "garbage in, garbage out" behaviour. It will not cause
+buffer overflows, information disclosure or other security problems:
+
+1. All data read from *pb_istream_t*.
+2. All fields in message structures, except callbacks and extensions.
+   (Beginning with nanopb-0.2.4, in earlier versions the field sizes are partially unchecked.)
+
+Invariants
+==========
+The following invariants are maintained during operation, even if the
+untrusted data has been maliciously crafted:
+
+1. Nanopb will never read more than *bytes_left* bytes from *pb_istream_t*.
+2. Nanopb will never write more than *max_size* bytes to *pb_ostream_t*.
+3. Nanopb will never access memory out of bounds of the message structure.
+4. After pb_decode() returns successfully, the message structure will be
+   internally consistent:
+
+   - The *count* fields of arrays will not exceed the array size.
+   - The *size* field of bytes will not exceed the allocated size.
+   - All string fields will have null terminator.
+
+5. After pb_encode() returns successfully, the resulting message is a valid
+   protocol buffers message. (Except if user-defined callbacks write incorrect
+   data.)
+
+Further considerations
+======================
+Even if the nanopb library is free of any security issues, there are still
+several possible attack vectors that the application author must consider.
+The following list is not comprehensive:
+
+1. Stack usage may depend on the contents of the message. The message
+   definition places an upper bound on how much stack will be used. Tests
+   should be run with all fields present, to record the maximum possible
+   stack usage.
+2. Callbacks can do anything. The code for the callbacks must be carefully
+   checked if they are used with untrusted data.
+3. If using stream input, a maximum size should be set in *pb_istream_t* to
+   stop a denial of service attack from using an infinite message.
+4. If using network sockets as streams, a timeout should be set to stop
+   denial of service attacks.
+