1# Security response team guidelines
2
3These are the guidelines for the security response team members
4including OpenBMC community members who are responding to problems
5reported by the [security vulnerability reporting process][].
6
7The security response team (SRT) coordinates activity to address privately
8disclosed security vulnerabilities, engages resources to address them,
9and creates security advisories.
10
11Here are the primary expectations:
12 - Keep problems private until announce
13 - Work with diligence
14 - Keep stakeholders informed
15
16Workflow highlights:
17
181. Handle new problem reports.
19    - Within a day, acknowledge you received the report.
20      Note that reports are archived in the mailing list.
21    - Communicate within the security response team, typically be
22      cc'ing the openbmc-security email list.
23
242. Analyze the problem and engage collaborators as needed (upstream,
25   downstream, and OpenBMC).
26    - Determine if the problem is new or known.
27    - Determine if the problem is in OpenBMC.
28       - If the problem is in a project that OpenBMC uses, re-route
29         the problem to that upstream project.
30       - Note that the problem may be in a customized version of
31         OpenBMC but not in OpenBMC itself.
32    - Determine which OpenBMC areas should address the problem.
33    - Draft a CVE-like report which includes only:
34       * the vulnerability description: omit OpenBMC specifics
35       * [CVSS metrics][] with explanations as needed
36       * CVE identifiers, if known
37    - Gather data for the security advisory (see template below).
38    - Use private channels, e.g., email.
39    - Inform contacts this is private work as part of the OpenBMC
40      security response team.  For example, link to these guidelines.
41    - Coordinate with all stakeholders and keep them informed.
42
43   Considerations in the [CERT Guide to Coordinated Vulnerability
44   Disclosure][] (SPECIAL REPORT CMU/SEI-2017-SR-022) may guide the process.
45
46   Example collaborations:
47    - Submit the problem to another security response team, for example, the
48      [UEFI Security Response Team (USRT)][].
49    - Privately engage an OpenBMC maintainer or subject matter expert.
50
513. For OpenBMC problems.
52    1. Determine if this is a high severity problem.  Example using
53       CVSS metrics: a remotely exploitable or low complexity attack that has
54       high impact to the BMC's confidentiality, integrity, or availability.
55    2. Avoid pre-announcing problems.  Be especially careful with high
56       severity problems.  When fixing the problem, use the contribution
57       process but limit the details in the issue or use a
58       private channel to discuss.
59    3. Negotiate how the code review will proceed.
60        - Consider [contributing][] using a Gerrit [private change][] if
61          everyone has access to Gerrit.
62        - Consider using [Patch set][] emails to make reviews accessible to
63          all stakeholders.
64    4. When agreed:
65        - Publish a security advisory to
66          https://github.com/openbmc/openbmc/issues and email list
67          openbmc@lists.ozlabs.org.
68        - Make the Gerrit review publicly viewable.
69        - Email the Security Advisory to the OpenBMC community (see below).
70    5. Improve OpenBMC processes to avoid future problems.
71
72[security vulnerability reporting process]: ./obmc-security-response-team.md
73[CVSS metrics]: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.0
74[UEFI Security Response Team (USRT)]: https://uefi.org/security
75[CERT Guide to Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure]: https://resources.sei.cmu.edu/asset_files/SpecialReport/2017_003_001_503340.pdf
76[contributing]: https://github.com/openbmc/docs/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#submitting-changes-via-gerrit-server
77[private change]: https://gerrit-review.googlesource.com/Documentation/intro-user.html#private-changes
78[Patch set]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patch_(Unix)
79
80## Template: Initial response to the problem submitter
81The OpenBMC security response team has received the problem.
82- Thank you for reporting this.
83- Share preliminary results of the analysis.
84- Share preliminary OpenBMC plans or that we are analyzing the problem.
85- Set expectations for follow-up communications.
86
87## Template: OpenBMC Security Advisory
88```
89OpenBMC Security Advisory
90Title: ...
91
92...summary: include CVEs, releases affected, etc....
93
94The CVSS score for these vulnerabilities is "...", with temporal score
95"...", with the following notes:
96https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.0
97
98The fix is in the https://github.com/openbmc/... repository as git
99commit ID ....
100
101For more information, see OpenBMC contact information at
102https://github.com/openbmc/openbmc file README.md.
103
104Credit for finding these problems: ...
105```
106
107## Template: Security Advisory notice
108When the Security Advisory is created, inform the OpenBMC community by
109sending email like this:
110
111```
112TO: openbmc-security@lists.ozlabs.org, openbmc@lists.ozlabs.org
113SUBJECT: [Security Advisory] ${subject}
114
115The OpenBMC Security Response team has released an OpenBMC Security Advisory:
116${url}
117
118An OpenBMC Security Advisory explains a security vulnerability, its severity,
119and how to protect systems that are built on OpenBMC.  For more information
120about OpenBMC Security Response, see:
121https://github.com/openbmc/docs/blob/master/security/obmc-security-response-team.md
122```
123
124## Reference
125Some of these guidelines were collected from:
126 - https://bestpractices.coreinfrastructure.org/en/projects/34
127 - https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v4.16/admin-guide/security-bugs.html
128 - https://oss-security.openwall.org/wiki/mailing-lists/distros
129 - [ISO/IEC 29147:2018 vulnerability disclosure](https://www.iso.org/standard/72311.html)
130
131## Team composition and email maintenance
132
133The security response team is controlled by the OpenBMC Technical
134Steering Committee.  Membership is restricted to a core group, with
135selection based upon their community role(s), experience, and
136expertise responding to security incidents.
137
138The security response team uses the `openbmc-security at
139lists.ozlabs.org` private email list as a channel for confidential
140communication, so its membership reflects the composition of the
141security response team.  The list membership should be reviewed
142periodically and can be managed from
143`https://lists.ozlabs.org/listinfo/openbmc-security`.
144
145The email list subscribers should be reminded periodically to protect
146access to the emails from the list because of the sensitive
147information they contain.
148
149The email list membership is not intended to be secret. For example,
150we can discuss it a public forum. However, no effort is made to make
151the list's membership public.
152
153The email list identification is `for privately reporting OpenBMC security
154vulnerabilities` with description: This email list is for privately reporting
155OpenBMC security vulnerabilities.  List membership is limited to the OpenBMC
156security response team.  For more information, see
157https://github.com/openbmc/docs/blob/master/security/how-to-report-a-security-vulnerability.md
158
159Sample response for denying list membership:
160```
161Thanks for your interest in OpenBMC security.  Subscriptions to the
162openbmc-security@lists.ozlabs.org email list are by invitation only
163and are typically extended only to security response team members.
164For more information, see https://github.com/openbmc/docs/security or
165attend a security working group meeting:
166https://github.com/openbmc/openbmc/wiki/Security-working-group.
167
168Yours truly,
169OpenBMC security response team
170```
171