X-Git-Url: http://git.chise.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=README;h=9fdf6d79baa5ea1ab9c28e271c4829f29bc2bc0e;hb=93ea9862c87f44d904ed46c383f6f395afcb082d;hp=5c06cd0aa5a57a24b652a415e4855929bddbe5a3;hpb=7e17a8f25936fb35e23606f5c54bde52f7a8160f;p=elisp%2Fepg.git diff --git a/README b/README index 5c06cd0..9fdf6d7 100644 --- a/README +++ b/README @@ -5,13 +5,13 @@ EasyPG is yet another GnuPG interface for Emacs. It consists of two parts: - "The EasyPG Assistant" which provides basic GUI of GnuPG - "The EasyPG Library" which enables use of various features of GnuPG -NOTE: EasyPG is not a fork or a re-implementation of Gnus/PGG. +NOTE: EasyPG is neither a fork nor a re-implementation of Gnus/PGG. * Requirements -** GNU Emacs 21.4 or later, XEmacs 21.4 or later +** GNU Emacs 21.4 or XEmacs 21.4 -** GnuPG 1.4.3 or later +** GnuPG 1.4.3 * Quick start @@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ Add the following line to your ~/.emacs (require 'epa-setup) -Then you can do some cryptographic operations on dired. +Then you can browse your keyring by `M-x epa-list-keys'. In addition, +you can do some cryptographic operations on dired. M-x dired (mark some files) @@ -33,21 +34,24 @@ Then you can do some cryptographic operations on dired. * Security consideration -** `call-process-region' writes data in region to a temporary file +There are security pitfalls around Emacs. + +** Passphrase may leak to a temporary file. `call-process-region' writes data in region to a temporary file. -EasyPG does *not* use `call-process-region' to communicate with a gpg +The EasyPG Library does not use `call-process-region' to communicate with a gpg subprocess. -** `(fillarray string 0)' is not enough to clear passphrases +** Passphrase may be stolen from a core file. -If Emacs crashed and dumps core, passphrase strings in memory are also +If Emacs crashes and dumps core, Lisp strings in memory are also dumped within the core file. `read-passwd' function clears passphrase strings by `(fillarray string 0)'. However, Emacs performs compaction in gc_sweep phase. If GC happens before `fillarray', passphrase -strings may be moved elsewhere in memory. +strings may be moved elsewhere in memory. Therefore, passphrase +caching in elisp is generally a bad idea. -Fortunately, there is gpg-agent to cache passphrases in more secure -way, so the EasyPG Library dares *not* to cache passphrase by itself. -Elisp programs can set `epg-context-passphrase-callback' to cache -user's passphrases. +The EasyPG Library dares to disable passphrase caching. Fortunately, +there is more secure way to cache passphrases - use gpg-agent. Elisp +programs can set `epg-context-passphrase-callback' to cache user's +passphrases, it is not recommended though.