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authorLudovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org>2016-03-28 17:56:05 +0200
committerLudovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org>2016-03-28 22:25:42 +0200
commit09866b3962df38cc704d993ca1e6c77f1b360523 (patch)
tree7c3a02536e9b7506d57badbcdd44cf1db1658b3a /doc
parentc3cfb7e330032c51cdf26df9664327ea5a75e893 (diff)
doc: Augment documentation about security updates.
* doc/guix.texi (Security Updates): Add paragraph on the big picture of security updates. Cross-reference 'guix lint'. (Invoking guix lint): Add CVE URLs.
Diffstat (limited to 'doc')
-rw-r--r--doc/guix.texi45
1 files changed, 39 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index 04b2ace1d4..3b050a63e3 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -4913,11 +4913,26 @@ just a version number or ``git-checkout'', without a declared
@code{file-name} (@pxref{origin Reference}).
@item cve
+@cindex security vulnerabilities
+@cindex CVE, Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures
Report known vulnerabilities found in the Common Vulnerabilities and
-Exposures (CVE) database
+Exposures (CVE) databases of the current and past year
@uref{https://nvd.nist.gov/download.cfm#CVE_FEED, published by the US
NIST}.
+To view information about a particular vulnerability, visit pages such as:
+
+@itemize
+@item
+@indicateurl{https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-YYYY-ABCD}
+@item
+@indicateurl{https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-YYYY-ABCD}
+@end itemize
+
+@noindent
+where @code{CVE-YYYY-ABCD} is the CVE identifier---e.g.,
+@code{CVE-2015-7554}.
+
@item formatting
Warn about obvious source code formatting issues: trailing white space,
use of tabulations, etc.
@@ -10450,14 +10465,32 @@ the load. To check whether a package has a @code{debug} output, use
@node Security Updates
@section Security Updates
+@cindex security updates
+@cindex security vulnerabilities
+Occasionally, important security vulnerabilities are discovered in software
+packages and must be patched. Guix developers try hard to keep track of
+known vulnerabilities and to apply fixes as soon as possible in the
+@code{master} branch of Guix (we do not yet provide a ``stable'' branch
+containing only security updates.) The @command{guix lint} tool helps
+developers find out about vulnerable versions of software packages in the
+distribution:
+
+@smallexample
+$ guix lint -c cve
+gnu/packages/base.scm:652:2: glibc-2.21: probably vulnerable to CVE-2015-1781, CVE-2015-7547
+gnu/packages/gcc.scm:334:2: gcc-4.9.3: probably vulnerable to CVE-2015-5276
+gnu/packages/image.scm:312:2: openjpeg-2.1.0: probably vulnerable to CVE-2016-1923, CVE-2016-1924
+@dots{}
+@end smallexample
+
+@xref{Invoking guix lint}, for more information.
+
@quotation Note
-As of version @value{VERSION}, the feature described in this section is
-experimental.
+As of version @value{VERSION}, the feature described below is considered
+``beta''.
@end quotation
-@cindex security updates
-Occasionally, important security vulnerabilities are discovered in core
-software packages and must be patched. Guix follows a functional
+Guix follows a functional
package management discipline (@pxref{Introduction}), which implies
that, when a package is changed, @emph{every package that depends on it}
must be rebuilt. This can significantly slow down the deployment of