Merge #2325

2325: Add ADR for double content signatures in RS Sync r=rehandalal a=mythmon

Fixes #2310


Co-authored-by: Michael Cooper <mythmon@gmail.com>

docs/adrs/adr-0003-double-signatures.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+ADR 0002 - How to validate Normandy data in Remote Settings
+===========================================================
+
+* Status: retrospective
+* Last Updated: 2021-05-07
+
+.. note::
+
+  This is a *retrospective* ADR, that documents a past decision well after
+  the time the decision was actually made. It's accuracy may be limited by
+  the distance in time between the decision and the time of record.
+
+
+Context and Problem Statement
+-----------------------------
+
+..
+  Describe the context and problem statement, e.g., in free form using two to
+  three sentences. You may want to articulate the problem in form of a
+  question.
+
+Normandy supports two methods of getting recipe data to Firefox clients.
+
+1. The original system of making all recipes available via an HTTP API.
+   Clients refetch all recipes every time they sync.
+2. The newer system based on Remote Settings. Normandy updates Remote
+   Settings as recipes change, and clients fetch only changed records from
+   Remote Settings. See `ADR 0001 <./adr-0001-content-signing.html>`_ for
+   more details.
+
+Normandy and Remote Settings sign their data differently. Remote Settings
+signs the entire collection as a single object. Normandy signs each recipe
+individually.
+
+It is not obvious how signing and verification should work for clients
+syncing through Remote Settings.
+
+Decision Drivers
+----------------
+
+* Remote Settings signatures are only validated when synchronizing.
+
+  * 2021 Note: Remote Settings now offers a way to validate signatures on
+    demand, but did not when this decision was made.
+
+* Normandy re-validates signatures every time recipes are processed on the
+  client.
+* Both Normandy and Remote Settings use Autograph to sign data.
+* Normandy recipes are a vector for attacking Firefox.
+* The new sync method is a change to Firefox that will take some time to
+  saturate the user base. The old system will need to be maintained for some
+  time.
+
+Considered Options
+------------------
+
+1. Use only Remote Settings signatures
+2. Use both Remote Settings signatures and Normandy signatures
+3. Don't use Remote Settings at all
+
+Decision Outcome
+----------------
+
+Chosen option: Option 2, "Use both Remote Settings and Normandy signatures",
+because it is a relatively small amount of extra work, and Normandy
+signatures have desirable security features that Remote Settings's signatures
+do not.
+
+Positive Consequences
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+* This allowed us to use the same recipe format for both kinds of clients
+  without any additional work.
+* This gave us protection against local attackers modifying Remote Settings's
+  store on disk.
+* This was one of the motivating example that lead to Remote Settings
+  eventually adding verify on demand functionality.
+* Defense in depth: An attacker would have to compromise both Normandy and
+  Remote settings to attack Firefox via Normandy recipes.
+
+Negative Consequences
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+* The long term version of the system, that doesn't support legacy clients,
+  seems weirdly paranoid.
+* The long term version of the system has more parts to maintain.
+
+Pros and Cons of the Options
+----------------------------
+
+Option 1 - Use only Remote Settings signatures
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+For Firefox clients that support Remote Settings sync, don't do any further
+signature verification after receiving signatures from Remote Settings. Trust
+that Remote Settings signatures are sufficient.
+
+* Good, because it is a simpler system.
+* Good, because it makes Normandy more similar to other systems that use Remote
+  Settings.
+* Bad, because Remote Settings does not re-verify recipes that are on disk.
+
+  * 2021 Note: This can now be overridden.
+
+* Bad, because it makes the migration from the old recipe sync system to the
+  new one a larger step.
+* Bad, because it makes the old and new server systems less similar.
+
+Option 2 - Use both Remote Settings signatures and Normandy signatures
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Continue to sign Normandy recipes using Normandy's existing signature system,
+and send both the recipe and the signature object using Remote Settings. The
+collection as a whole will be verify by Remote Setting's signing
+infrastructure, and the recipe individually will be verified by Normandy's
+infrastructure.
+
+* Good, because it provides additional defense in depth. More systems need to
+  be compromised to send false recipes.
+* Good, because it makes Normandy Server's two sync modes more similar to each
+  other.
+* Good, because it defends against recipes changing on-disk.
+* Bad, because it is more complex than using only Remote Settings signatures.
+* Bad, because it makes Normandy less similar to other services that use Remote
+  Settings.
+
+Don't use Remote Settings at all
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+This is the status quo. It avoids the signing question entirely by simply not
+using Remote Settings. See `ADR 0001 <./adr-0001-content-signing.html>`_ for
+more details about this option.