Server-side keyring certificates: kernel never populates ta_my_cert / ta_my_privkey
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- Dominant language
- C
- Stars
- 50
- Forks
- 36
- Avg merge
- 3d 22h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 2
Description
tlshd links the .nfsd keyring into its session keyring at startup, and the handshake upcall protocol defines attributes for passing a certificate and private key serial number to the server-side handshake. However, the kernel's svc_tcp_handshake() never populates ta_my_cert and ta_my_privkey, so an NFS server has no path to present a certificate stored in the .nfsd keyring; tlshd always falls back to the certificate configured in /etc/tlshd.conf.
Making this work requires kernel changes (an administrative interface for nfsd to select keyring-resident authentication material, and svc_tcp_handshake() filling in the handshake args) in addition to whatever tlshd-side handling is missing. Once it does work, server-side keyring certificates have the same dual/PQ certificate gap tracked in #151.
Observed by Scott Mayhew while triaging the client-side keyring regression:
https://lore.kernel.org/all/afUKzeUYPhb97DX4@aion/
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with the kernel's svc_tcp_handshake() and the handshake upcall attributes ta_my_cert and ta_my_privkey, then trace how tlshd links the .nfsd keyring and reads /etc/tlshd.conf. The work is complete when an NFS server can select keyring-resident certificate material and pass its serial numbers through the handshake instead of always using the configured certificate.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- c, linux
- Domain
- networking, security
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100