Re: NetBSD's security features and hardening options

Thor Lancelot Simon <[email protected]> Wed, 17 Nov 2021 12:20:20 -0500
Newsgroups gmane.os.netbsd.devel.security
Message-ID <[email protected]>
On Wed, Nov 17, 2021 at 10:06:10AM +0000, [email protected] wrote:
> 
> 4) efi=disable_early_pci_dma
> 
> This option fixes a hole in the above IOMMU by disabling
> the busmaster bit on all PCI bridges during very early boot.

Just one note - this is...how do I put it?  Highly aspirational.  The earliest
stages of the boot firmware have to get this exactly right; the kernel really
has no control.  Don't set this and go away with a false sense of security; if
every single component of the boot chain, including some which are earlier
than anything you or the kernel can touch, does not handle this perfectly then
there is still a window of opportunity which an attacker can exploit, and it
cannot really be usefully decreased such that it is unexploitable.

Thor