[webkit-dev] Security advice for linux browsers based on WebKit

[Adam Barth]

On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 6:11 AM, Gustavo Noronha Silva<gns at gnome.org> wrote:
> I am saying that we should be careful not to design things with 'Linux
> is mostly used in enterprise settings' in mind.

Ah, I see.  Yes, this makes sense.  My experience with Linux is mostly
in universities where these sorts of file systems are the norm.

> So, to clear up my position regarding the actual meat of the proposal: I
> agree this is an important security concern. Doing that in libraries
> right now will break API expectations, though, so I think if it is done,
> this should be done first by documenting the intent to change, and then
> changing after a reasonable amount of time. Of course browser
> applications can do it right now, though =)

By way of context, Firefox has had this mitigations for several years
on all platforms.  IE has an even more onerous mitigation for a long
time (basically they punt the decision to the users with a "click here
to be hacked" experience).  Chrome has had this mitigation since day
1.

I think the main compatibly risk is in non-browser uses of WebKit
where it's difficult for us to assess the risk without knowing the
application.

Where do you think we should document our intent to change?

Adam