From: Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de>
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2023 18:33:33 +0000 (+0100)
Subject: security considerations update from Dave Black
X-Git-Tag: draft-ietf-nfsv4-scsi-layout-nvme-06~1
X-Git-Url: https://www.infradead.org/git/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=e4c88bb28d2b4ba7d828197ef8a532cfb51abfc4;p=users%2Fhch%2Fscsi-layout-nvme.git

security considerations update from Dave Black
---

diff --git a/scsi-nvme.md b/scsi-nvme.md
index ef2d2b0..0c91ffa 100644
--- a/scsi-nvme.md
+++ b/scsi-nvme.md
@@ -318,23 +318,30 @@ Refer to {{Section 2.4.6 (Extents Are Permissions) and Section 4
 (Security Considerations) of RFC8154}} for the
 Security Considerations of direct block access from NFS clients.
 
-pNFS with an NVMe layout can be used with NVMe transports
-(e.g., NVMe over PCIe {{NVME-PCIE}}) that provide
-essentially no additional security functionality. Or,
-pNFS may be used with storage protocols such as NVMe over TCP {{NVME-TCP}}
-that can provide significant transport
-layer security.
-
-It is the responsibility of those administering and deploying
-pNFS with an NVMe layout to ensure that appropriate protection is
-deployed to that protocol.
-When using IP-based storage protocols such as NVMe over TCP, data
-confidentiality and integrity SHOULD be provided for traffic between
-pNFS clients and NVMe storage devices by using a secure communication
-protocol such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) {{RFC8446}}.  For NVMe
-over TCP, TLS SHOULD be used as described in {{NVME-TCP}} to
-protect traffic between pNFS clients and NVMe namespaces used as
-storage devices.
+pNFS with an NVMe layout can be used with NVMe transports (e.g., NVMe
+over PCIe {{NVME-PCIE}}) that provide essentially no additional security
+functionality. Or, pNFS may be used with storage protocols such as NVMe
+over TCP {{NVME-TCP}} that can provide significant transport layer
+security.
+
+It is the responsibility of those administering and deploying pNFS with
+an NVMe layout to ensure that appropriate protection is deployed to that
+protocol based on the deployment environment as well as the nature and
+sensitivity of the data and storage devices involved.  When using IP-based
+storage protocols such as NVMe over TCP, data confidentiality and
+integrity SHOULD be provided for traffic between pNFS clients and NVMe
+storage devices by using a secure communication protocol such as Transport
+Layer Security (TLS) {{RFC8446}}. For NVMe over TCP, TLS SHOULD be used as
+described in {{NVME-TCP}} to protect traffic between pNFS clients and NVMe
+namespaces used as storage devices.
+
+A secure communication protocol might not be needed for pNFS with NVMe
+layouts in environments where physical and/or logical security measures
+(e.g., air gaps, isolated VLANs) provide effective access control
+commensurate with the sensitivity and value of the storage devices and data
+involved (e.g., public website contents may be significantly less sensitive
+than a database containing personal identifying information, passwords,
+and other authentication credentials).
 
 Physical security is a common means for protocols not based on IP.
 In environments where the security requirements for the storage