1curl security process
2=====================
3
4This document describes how security vulnerabilities should be handled in the
5curl project.
6
7Publishing Information
8----------------------
9
10All known and public curl or libcurl related vulnerabilities are listed on
11[the curl website security page](https://curl.se/docs/security.html).
12
13Security vulnerabilities **should not** be entered in the project's public bug
14tracker.
15
16Vulnerability Handling
17----------------------
18
19The typical process for handling a new security vulnerability is as follows.
20
21No information should be made public about a vulnerability until it is
22formally announced at the end of this process. That means, for example that a
23bug tracker entry must NOT be created to track the issue since that will make
24the issue public and it should not be discussed on any of the project's public
25mailing lists. Also messages associated with any commits should not make any
26reference to the security nature of the commit if done prior to the public
27announcement.
28
29- The person discovering the issue, the reporter, reports the vulnerability on
30  [https://hackerone.com/curl](https://hackerone.com/curl). Issues filed there
31  reach a handful of selected and trusted people.
32
33- Messages that do not relate to the reporting or managing of an undisclosed
34  security vulnerability in curl or libcurl are ignored and no further action
35  is required.
36
37- A person in the security team responds to the original report to acknowledge
38  that a human has seen the report.
39
40- The security team investigates the report and either rejects it or accepts
41  it.
42
43- If the report is rejected, the team writes to the reporter to explain why.
44
45- If the report is accepted, the team writes to the reporter to let him/her
46  know it is accepted and that they are working on a fix.
47
48- The security team discusses the problem, works out a fix, considers the
49  impact of the problem and suggests a release schedule. This discussion
50  should involve the reporter as much as possible.
51
52- The release of the information should be "as soon as possible" and is most
53  often synchronized with an upcoming release that contains the fix. If the
54  reporter, or anyone else involved, thinks the next planned release is too
55  far away, then a separate earlier release should be considered.
56
57- Write a security advisory draft about the problem that explains what the
58  problem is, its impact, which versions it affects, solutions or workarounds,
59  when the release is out and make sure to credit all contributors properly.
60  Figure out the CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) number for the flaw.
61
62- Request a CVE number from
63  [HackerOne](https://docs.hackerone.com/programs/cve-requests.html)
64
65- Update the "security advisory" with the CVE number.
66
67- The security team commits the fix in a private branch. The commit message
68  should ideally contain the CVE number.
69
70- The security team also decides on and delivers a monetary reward to the
71  reporter as per the bug-bounty polices.
72
73- No more than 10 days before release, inform
74  [distros@openwall](https://oss-security.openwall.org/wiki/mailing-lists/distros)
75  to prepare them about the upcoming public security vulnerability
76  announcement - attach the advisory draft for information with CVE and
77  current patch. 'distros' does not accept an embargo longer than 14 days and
78  they do not care for Windows-specific flaws.
79
80- No more than 48 hours before the release, the private branch is merged into
81  the master branch and pushed. Once pushed, the information is accessible to
82  the public and the actual release should follow suit immediately afterwards.
83  The time between the push and the release is used for final tests and
84  reviews.
85
86- The project team creates a release that includes the fix.
87
88- The project team announces the release and the vulnerability to the world in
89  the same manner we always announce releases. It gets sent to the
90  curl-announce, curl-library and curl-users mailing lists.
91
92- The security web page on the website should get the new vulnerability
93  mentioned.
94
95security (at curl dot se)
96------------------------------
97
98This is a private mailing list for discussions on and about curl security
99issues.
100
101Who is on this list? There are a couple of criteria you must meet, and then we
102might ask you to join the list or you can ask to join it. It really is not a
103formal process. We basically only require that you have a long-term presence
104in the curl project and you have shown an understanding for the project and
105its way of working. You must have been around for a good while and you should
106have no plans in vanishing in the near future.
107
108We do not make the list of participants public mostly because it tends to vary
109somewhat over time and a list somewhere will only risk getting outdated.
110
111Publishing Security Advisories
112------------------------------
113
1141. Write up the security advisory, using markdown syntax. Use the same
115   subtitles as last time to maintain consistency.
116
1172. Name the advisory file after the allocated CVE id.
118
1193. Add a line on the top of the array in `curl-www/docs/vuln.pm'.
120
1214. Put the new advisory markdown file in the curl-www/docs/ directory. Add it
122   to the git repo.
123
1245. Run `make` in your local web checkout and verify that things look fine.
125
1266. On security advisory release day, push the changes on the curl-www
127   repository's remote master branch.
128
129Hackerone
130---------
131
132Request the issue to be disclosed. If there are sensitive details present in
133the report and discussion, those should be redacted from the disclosure. The
134default policy is to disclose as much as possible as soon as the vulnerability
135has been published.
136
137Bug Bounty
138----------
139
140See [BUG-BOUNTY](https://curl.se/docs/bugbounty.html) for details on the
141bug bounty program.
142