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127 lines
5.1 KiB
ReStructuredText
127 lines
5.1 KiB
ReStructuredText
###################
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Security Principles
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###################
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Security is one of the primary project goals. This means that it should
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not be possible for an attacker to join a cluster uninvited, and it
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should not be possible to extract private information from intercepted
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traffic. Currently this is implemented as follows.
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All traffic is protected by TLS. To prevent uninvited nodes from joining
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a cluster, the certificate fingerprint of each node is compared to a
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preset list of acceptable nodes at connection establishment. The
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fingerprint is computed as the SHA-256 hash of the certificate and
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displayed in BASE32 encoding to form a reasonably compact and convenient
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string.
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Incoming requests for file data are verified to the extent that the
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requested file name must exist in the local index and the global model.
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For information about ensuring you are running the code you think you
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are and for reporting security vulnerabilities, please see the official
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`security page <http://syncthing.net/security.html>`__.
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Information Leakage
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===================
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Global Discovery
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----------------
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When global discovery is enabled, Syncthing sends an announcement packet
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every 30 minutes to the global discovery server, so that it can keep a
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mapping between your device ID and external IP. Also, when connecting to
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other devices that have not been seen on the local network, a query is
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sent to the global discovery server containing the device ID of the
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requested device. The discovery server is currently **hosted by
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@calmh**. Global discovery defaults to **on**.
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When turned off, devices with dynamic addresses not on the local network
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cannot be found and connected to.
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If a different global discovery server is configured, no data is sent to
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the default global discovery server.
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Local Discovery
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---------------
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When local discovery is enabled, Syncthing sends broadcast (IPv4) and
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multicast (IPv6) packets to the local network every 30 seconds. The
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packets contain the device ID and listening port. Local discovery
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defaults to **on**.
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An eavesdropper on the local network can deduce which machines are
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running Syncthing with local discovery enabled, and what their device
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IDs are.
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When turned off, devices with dynamic addresses on the local network
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cannot be found and connected to.
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Upgrade Checks
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--------------
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When automatic upgrades are enabled, Syncthing checks for a new version
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at startup and then once every twelve hours. This is by an HTTPS request
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to the download site for releases, currently **hosted at GitHub**.
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Automatic upgrades default to **on** (unless Syncthing was compiled with
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upgrades disabled).
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Even when automatic upgrades are disabled in the configuration, an
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upgrade check as above is done when the GUI is loaded, in order to show
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the "Upgrade to ..." button when necessary. This can be disabled only by
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compiling syncthing with upgrades disabled.
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In effect this exposes the majority of the Syncthing population to
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tracking by the operator of the download site (currently GitHub). That
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data is not available to outside parties (including @calmh etc), except
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that download counts per release binary are available in the GitHub API.
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The upgrade check (or download) requests *do not* contain any
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identifiable information about the user, device, Syncthing version, etc.
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Usage Reporting
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---------------
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When usage reporting is enabled, Syncthing reports usage data at startup
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and then every 24 hours. The report is sent as an HTTPS POST to the
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usage reporting server, currently **hosted by @calmh**. The contents of
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the usage report can be seen behind the "Preview" link in settings.
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Usage reporting defaults to **off** but the GUI will ask once about
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enabling it, shortly after the first install.
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The reported data is protected from eavesdroppers, but the connection to
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the usage reporting server itself may expose the client as running
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Syncthing.
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Sync Connections (BEP)
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----------------------
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Sync connections are attempted to all configured devices, when the
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address is possible to resolve. The sync connection is based on TLS 1.2.
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The TLS certificates are sent in clear text (as in HTTPS etc), meaning
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that the certificate Common Name (by default ``syncthing``) is visible.
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An eavesdropper can deduce that this is a Syncthing connection and
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calculate the device ID:s involved based on the hashes of the sent
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certificates.
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Likewise, if the sync port (default 22000) is accessible from the
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internet, a port scanner may discover it, attempt a TLS negotiation and
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thus obtain the device certificate. This provides the same information
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as in the eavesdropper case.
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Web GUI
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-------
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If the web GUI is accessible, it exposes the device as running
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Syncthing. The web GUI defaults to being reachable from the **local host
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only**.
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In Short
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========
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Parties doing surveillance on your network (whether that be corporate
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IT, the NSA or someone else) will be able to see that you use Syncthing,
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and your device ID's `are OK to share
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anyway <http://docs.syncthing.net/users/faq.html#should-i-keep-my-device-ids-secret>`__,
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but the actual transmitted data is protected as well as we can. Knowing
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your device ID can expose your IP address, using global discovery.
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