|
| 1 | +# KEP-3031: Signing release artifacts |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +<!-- toc --> |
| 4 | + |
| 5 | +- [Release Signoff Checklist](#release-signoff-checklist) |
| 6 | +- [Summary](#summary) |
| 7 | +- [Motivation](#motivation) |
| 8 | + - [Goals](#goals) |
| 9 | + - [Non-Goals](#non-goals) |
| 10 | +- [Proposal](#proposal) |
| 11 | + - [User Stories (Optional)](#user-stories-optional) |
| 12 | + - [Risks and Mitigations](#risks-and-mitigations) |
| 13 | + - [Graduation Criteria](#graduation-criteria) |
| 14 | + - [Alpha](#alpha) |
| 15 | + - [Beta](#beta) |
| 16 | + - [GA](#ga) |
| 17 | +- [Drawbacks](#drawbacks) |
| 18 | +- [Alternatives](#alternatives) |
| 19 | +- [Implementation History](#implementation-history) |
| 20 | +<!-- /toc --> |
| 21 | + |
| 22 | +## Release Signoff Checklist |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +<!-- |
| 25 | +**ACTION REQUIRED:** In order to merge code into a release, there must be an |
| 26 | +issue in [kubernetes/enhancements] referencing this KEP and targeting a release |
| 27 | +milestone **before the [Enhancement Freeze](https://git.k8s.io/sig-release/releases) |
| 28 | +of the targeted release**. |
| 29 | +
|
| 30 | +For enhancements that make changes to code or processes/procedures in core |
| 31 | +Kubernetes—i.e., [kubernetes/kubernetes], we require the following Release |
| 32 | +Signoff checklist to be completed. |
| 33 | +
|
| 34 | +Check these off as they are completed for the Release Team to track. These |
| 35 | +checklist items _must_ be updated for the enhancement to be released. |
| 36 | +--> |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +Items marked with (R) are required _prior to targeting to a milestone / release_. |
| 39 | + |
| 40 | +- [ ] (R) Enhancement issue in release milestone, which links to KEP dir in [kubernetes/enhancements] (not the initial KEP PR) |
| 41 | +- [ ] (R) KEP approvers have approved the KEP status as `implementable` |
| 42 | +- [ ] (R) Design details are appropriately documented |
| 43 | +- [ ] (R) Test plan is in place, giving consideration to SIG Architecture and SIG Testing input (including test refactors) |
| 44 | + - [ ] e2e Tests for all Beta API Operations (endpoints) |
| 45 | + - [ ] (R) Ensure GA e2e tests for meet requirements for [Conformance Tests](https://github.com/kubernetes/community/blob/master/contributors/devel/sig-architecture/conformance-tests.md) |
| 46 | + - [ ] (R) Minimum Two Week Window for GA e2e tests to prove flake free |
| 47 | +- [ ] (R) Graduation criteria is in place |
| 48 | + - [ ] (R) [all GA Endpoints](https://github.com/kubernetes/community/pull/1806) must be hit by [Conformance Tests](https://github.com/kubernetes/community/blob/master/contributors/devel/sig-architecture/conformance-tests.md) |
| 49 | +- [ ] (R) Production readiness review completed |
| 50 | +- [ ] (R) Production readiness review approved |
| 51 | +- [ ] "Implementation History" section is up-to-date for milestone |
| 52 | +- [ ] User-facing documentation has been created in [kubernetes/website], for publication to [kubernetes.io] |
| 53 | +- [ ] Supporting documentation—e.g., additional design documents, links to mailing list discussions/SIG meetings, relevant PRs/issues, release notes |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | +<!-- |
| 56 | +**Note:** This checklist is iterative and should be reviewed and updated every time this enhancement is being considered for a milestone. |
| 57 | +--> |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | +[kubernetes.io]: https://kubernetes.io/ |
| 60 | +[kubernetes/enhancements]: https://git.k8s.io/enhancements |
| 61 | +[kubernetes/kubernetes]: https://git.k8s.io/kubernetes |
| 62 | +[kubernetes/website]: https://git.k8s.io/website |
| 63 | + |
| 64 | +## Summary |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +Target of this enhancement is to define which technology the Kubernetes |
| 67 | +community is using to signs release artifacts. |
| 68 | + |
| 69 | +## Motivation |
| 70 | + |
| 71 | +Signing artifacts provides end users a chance to verify the integrity of the |
| 72 | +downloaded resource. It allows to mitigate man-in-the-middle attacks directly on |
| 73 | +the client side and therefore ensures the trustfulness of the remote serving the |
| 74 | +artifacts. |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | +### Goals |
| 77 | + |
| 78 | +- Defining the used tooling for signing all Kubernetes related artifacts |
| 79 | +- Providing a standard signing process for related projects (like k/release) |
| 80 | + |
| 81 | +### Non-Goals |
| 82 | + |
| 83 | +- Discussing not user-facing internal technical implementation details |
| 84 | + |
| 85 | +## Proposal |
| 86 | + |
| 87 | +Every Kubernetes release produces a set of artifacts. We define artifacts as |
| 88 | +something consumable by end users. Artifacts can be binaries, container images, |
| 89 | +checksum files, documentation, provenance metadata, or the software bill of |
| 90 | +materials. None of those end-user resources are signed right now. |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +The overall goal of SIG Release is to unify the way how to sign artifacts. This |
| 93 | +will be done by relying on the tools of the Linux Foundations digital signing |
| 94 | +project [sigstore](https://www.sigstore.dev). This goal aligns with the |
| 95 | +[Roadmap and Vision](https://github.com/kubernetes/sig-release/blob/f62149/roadmap.md) |
| 96 | +of SIG Release to provide a secure software supply chain for Kubernetes. It also |
| 97 | +joins the effort of gaining full SLSA Compliance in the Kubernetes Release |
| 98 | +Process ([KEP-3027](https://github.com/kubernetes/enhancements/issues/3027)). |
| 99 | +Because of that, the future [SLSA](https://slsa.dev) compliance of artifacts |
| 100 | +produced by SIG release will require signing artifacts starting from level 2. |
| 101 | + |
| 102 | +[cosign](https://github.com/sigstore/cosign) will be the tool of our choice when |
| 103 | +speaking about the technical aspects of the solution. How we integrate the |
| 104 | +projects into our build process in k/release is out of scope of this KEP and |
| 105 | +will be discussed in the Release Engineering subproject of SIG Release. A |
| 106 | +pre-evaluation of the tool has been done already to ensure that it meets the |
| 107 | +requirements. |
| 108 | + |
| 109 | +An [ongoing discussion](https://github.com/kubernetes/release/issues/2227) about |
| 110 | +using cosign already exists in k/release. This issue contains technical |
| 111 | +discussions about how to utilize the existing Google infrastructure as well as |
| 112 | +consider utilizing keyless signing via workload identities. Nevertheless, this |
| 113 | +KEP focuses more on the "What" aspects rather than the "How". |
| 114 | + |
| 115 | +### User Stories (Optional) |
| 116 | + |
| 117 | +- As an end user, I would like to be able to verify the Kubernetes release |
| 118 | + artifacts, so that I can mitigate possible resource modifications by the |
| 119 | + network. |
| 120 | + |
| 121 | +### Risks and Mitigations |
| 122 | + |
| 123 | +- **Risk:** Unauthorized access to the signing key or its infrastructure |
| 124 | + |
| 125 | + **Mitigations:** |
| 126 | + |
| 127 | + - Storing the credentials in a secure Google Cloud Project with |
| 128 | + limited access for SIG Release. |
| 129 | + - Enabling the cosign [transparency log |
| 130 | + (Rekor)](https://github.com/sigstore/cosign#rekor-support) to make the key |
| 131 | + usage publicly auditable. |
| 132 | + - Working towards [keyless |
| 133 | + signing](https://github.com/sigstore/cosign/blob/3f83940/KEYLESS.md) to |
| 134 | + minimize the attack surface of the supply chain. |
| 135 | + |
| 136 | +### Graduation Criteria |
| 137 | + |
| 138 | +#### Alpha |
| 139 | + |
| 140 | +- Outline and integrate an example process for signing Kubernetes release |
| 141 | + artifacts. |
| 142 | + |
| 143 | +#### Beta |
| 144 | + |
| 145 | +- Standard Kubernetes release artifacts (binaries and container images) are |
| 146 | + signed. |
| 147 | + |
| 148 | +#### GA |
| 149 | + |
| 150 | +- All Kubernetes artifacts are signed. This does exclude everything which gets |
| 151 | + build outside of the main Kubernetes repository. |
| 152 | + |
| 153 | +## Drawbacks |
| 154 | + |
| 155 | +- The initial implementation effort from the release engineering perspective |
| 156 | + requires adding an additional layer of complexity to the Kubernetes build |
| 157 | + pipeline. |
| 158 | + |
| 159 | +## Alternatives |
| 160 | + |
| 161 | +- Using the [OCI Registry As Storage (ORAS) project](https://github.com/oras-project/oras) |
| 162 | + |
| 163 | +## Implementation History |
| 164 | + |
| 165 | +- 2021-11-29 Initial Draft |
0 commit comments