Re: [PATCH v2 0/3] initramfs: add support for xattrs in the initial ram disk

[Mimi Zohar]

On Fri, 2019-05-10 at 08:56 +0200, Roberto Sassu wrote:
> On 5/9/2019 8:34 PM, Rob Landley wrote:
> > On 5/9/19 6:24 AM, Roberto Sassu wrote:

> >> The difference with another proposal
> >> (https://lore.kernel.org/patchwork/cover/888071/) is that xattrs can be
> >> included in an image without changing the image format, as opposed to
> >> defining a new one. As seen from the discussion, if a new format has to be
> >> defined, it should fix the issues of the existing format, which requires
> >> more time.
> > 
> > So you've explicitly chosen _not_ to address Y2038 while you're there.
> 
> Can you be more specific?

Right, this patch set avoids incrementing the CPIO magic number and
the resulting changes required (eg. increasing the timestamp field
size), by including a file with the security xattrs in the CPIO. ÂIn
either case, including the security xattrs in the initramfs header or
as a separate file, the initramfs, itself, needs to be signed.

Mimi