SIGN(3)                                                   SIGN(3)

     NAME
          sign - control use of signed modules

     SYNOPSIS
          bind -a #Σ /dev

          /dev/signerkey
          /dev/signctl

     DESCRIPTION
          Sign is a device, still experimental, to control the use of
          signed Dis modules.  After system initialisation, any pro-
          cess can load any module.  Using sign, load operations can
          subsequently be restricted for a process and its descen-
          dents.

          Signerkey is a file that can be opened for writing only  by
          the host owner (see eve(10.2)) (but any process holding the
          file descriptor can write to it).  The data written must be
          the textual representation of a public key in the form pro-
          duced by Keyring->pktostr (see keyring-certtostr(2)). After
          a successful write, subsequent load operations will be lim-
          ited to Dis modules in any of the following sets:

          •    built-in modules

          •    unsigned modules found in the kernel's root(3) file
               system

          •    currently loaded unsigned modules

          •    acceptable signed modules

          A signed Dis module contains a signature in its header, as
          specified by dis(6). The signature contains the result of
          signing the remaining data in the file (or more precisely, a
          cryptographically secure hash of it), using a configured
          public key algorithm and the signer's secret key (for
          instance using Keyring->sign, see keyring-sha1(2)).

          A signed module is `acceptable' if it was signed by the
          secret key corresponding to one of the public keys written
          to signerkey.  There can be up to 8 such keys.  The set of
          keys and the secured status is shared across spawn.

          Signerkey is generally readable, and when read yields a list
          of the keys installed, one per line, showing owner, alg, and
          other attributes in attr=value format, space separated.  The
          actual key value is not currently shown.

     Page 1                       Plan 9            (printed 12/22/24)

     SIGN(3)                                                   SIGN(3)

          Signctl can be read or written only by the host owner.  Each
          write contains a textual control request.  (Currently there
          are none such.)  If security is not enabled, it is empty
          when read.  Otherwise, it contains the number of keys
          loaded, as a decimal integer.

     SOURCE
          /emu/port/devsign.c
          /os/port/devsign.c

     SEE ALSO
          wm/rt in wm-misc(2), sys-pctl(2), dis(6),
          createsignerkey(8), eve(10.2)

     DIAGNOSTICS
          If the text is not a valid public key or uses an algorithm
          that is not configured, a write to signer fails and sets the
          error string.

     Page 2                       Plan 9            (printed 12/22/24)