Thread: Common criteria evaluation?
I'm working on a database project and we're starting to look at open source alternatives to Oracle. The group I'm working for is keen to find a suitable database that has passed the common criteria evaluation at some level. I know an older version of PostgreSQL for Linux was evaluated at EAL 1 in Japan. Are there any other versions that are going through this now? Or any ideas where else I could look?
On Thu, 15 Nov 2007, Geoff wrote: > I know an older version of PostgreSQL for Linux was evaluated at EAL 1 > in Japan. Right, by NTT: http://www.nttdata.co.jp/services/postgreSQL/english.html Note that the certified version included some small modifications, it wasn't the regular release that made it. 8.1.5 isn't that old of a version; the current release in that branch is 8.1.10 and it's completely sensible to consider rolling out even a new system on 8.1 right now. There are some issues [1] even with adopting that one certified version right now. > Are there any other versions that are going through this now? The most obvious vendor to find this worth the trouble is Sun, the last recent statement I saw about this topic suggested that was just on their radar: http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/database/soup/archives/jpug-2007-report-16736 Josh may chime in with an update here, but I doubt that's made much progress yet. [1] The changes between 8.1.5 and 8.1.10 were relatively small and focused on bug fixes, but there were a few compelling ones that would make deploying 8.1.5 a little risky. 8.1.7 fixed a notable security issue and 8.1.9 took care of a problem that could corrupt data. Even if it were feasible for you to self-certify in some fashion, the only path there that would make sense would be extracting the changes made to reach EAL1 in that customized 8.1.5, then apply at least those important patches. -- * Greg Smith gsmith@gregsmith.com http://www.gregsmith.com Baltimore, MD
Greg Smith <gsmith@gregsmith.com> writes: > Right, by NTT: http://www.nttdata.co.jp/services/postgreSQL/english.html > Note that the certified version included some small modifications, it > wasn't the regular release that made it. Were those mods ever submitted upstream? regards, tom lane
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007, Tom Lane wrote: > Greg Smith <gsmith@gregsmith.com> writes: >> Right, by NTT: http://www.nttdata.co.jp/services/postgreSQL/english.html > Were those mods ever submitted upstream? As far as I can tell they weren't even released offically. I didn't see any source RPMs, just the binaries, and all the related documentation is in Japanese. That's actually the biggest problem with other groups trying to re-use the work they did. A large part of Common Criteria compliance involves not just the code but the procedures, and all of those are also in Japanese. The modified software by itself doesn't get you there, you have to use it in just the right way to follow the certified procedure. -- * Greg Smith gsmith@gregsmith.com http://www.gregsmith.com Baltimore, MD
On Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 07:35:52PM -0800, Geoff wrote: > I know an older version of PostgreSQL for > Linux was evaluated at EAL 1 in Japan. Are there any other versions > that are going through this now? Just out of interest, what does EAL level 1 actually test/check for? I'd assume that it was a very specific set of use cases, but it may be something more generally useful. Sam
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007, Sam Mason wrote: > Just out of interest, what does EAL level 1 actually test/check for? There's a good summary of this whole process on the relevant Wikipedia pages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaluation_Assurance_Level http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Criteria Actually digging into the details will put you to sleep fast, the specs are available at http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2489/Ittf_Home/PubliclyAvailableStandards.htm To figure out how to map the EAL levels into what's acually tested, you need to look at the table at the end of ISO/IEC 15408-3:2005. That serves as a sort of index of what you need to pay attention to in the other documentation. -- * Greg Smith gsmith@gregsmith.com http://www.gregsmith.com Baltimore, MD
On Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 01:34:40PM -0500, Greg Smith wrote: > On Fri, 16 Nov 2007, Sam Mason wrote: > >Just out of interest, what does EAL level 1 actually test/check for? > > There's a good summary of this whole process on the relevant Wikipedia > pages: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaluation_Assurance_Level > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Criteria I had a look though those, but they seemed pretty vague about what was actually being checked/verified. > Actually digging into the details will put you to sleep fast, the specs > are available at > http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2489/Ittf_Home/PubliclyAvailableStandards.htm > > To figure out how to map the EAL levels into what's acually tested, you > need to look at the table at the end of ISO/IEC 15408-3:2005. That serves > as a sort of index of what you need to pay attention to in the other > documentation. And that's the other extreme. The introduction seems readable, lets see how long I last! Sam