Kea

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These are the Silver level criteria. You can also view the Passing or Gold level criteria.

        

 Basics 15/17 ●

  • Identification

    KEA is an open source DHCPv4/DHCPv6 server being developed and maintained by ​Internet Systems Consortium. The objective of this project is to provide a very high-performance, extensible DHCP server engine for use by enterprises and service providers, either as is or with extensions and modifications.

  • Prerequisites


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST achieve a passing level badge. [achieve_passing]

  • Basic project website content


    Enough for a badge!

    The information on how to contribute MUST include the requirements for acceptable contributions (e.g., a reference to any required coding standard). (URL required) [contribution_requirements]

    Contributor guidelines are here: https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md. Coding standards are covered there, including this excerpt: "Placed in the root of the repository are files that formally describe the coding guidelines above as close as possible. They are .clang-format and .uncrustify.cfg used by clang-format and uncrustify respectively. If you want to format code automatically, you will need to have at least one of these tools installed. Since by default, these tools look for the closest style file located in one of the parent directories or, otherwise, in a default location, there are a a couple of helpful scripts i.e. ./tools/clang-format.sh and ./tools/uncrustify.sh to assure you that the Kea-owned file is used. They accept any number of customized parameters that would be passed to the underlying tool followed by any number of files and/or directories. Passing directories will have all non-generated C++ files under it formatted."


  • Project oversight


    Enough for a badge!

    The project SHOULD have a legal mechanism where all developers of non-trivial amounts of project software assert that they are legally authorized to make these contributions. The most common and easily-implemented approach for doing this is by using a Developer Certificate of Origin (DCO), where users add "signed-off-by" in their commits and the project links to the DCO website. However, this MAY be implemented as a Contributor License Agreement (CLA), or other legal mechanism. (URL required) [dco]

    DCO is included in the Contributing.md document in the top of the tree: https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md?ref_type=heads.


    Unknown required information, not enough for a badge.

    The project MUST clearly define and document its project governance model (the way it makes decisions, including key roles). (URL required) [governance]

    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST adopt a code of conduct and post it in a standard location. (URL required) [code_of_conduct]

    We do have Code of Conduct. It's a slightly modified Django CoC: https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/blob/master/code_of_conduct.md


    Unknown required information, not enough for a badge.

    The project MUST clearly define and publicly document the key roles in the project and their responsibilities, including any tasks those roles must perform. It MUST be clear who has which role(s), though this might not be documented in the same way. (URL required) [roles_responsibilities]

    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST be able to continue with minimal interruption if any one person dies, is incapacitated, or is otherwise unable or unwilling to continue support of the project. In particular, the project MUST be able to create and close issues, accept proposed changes, and release versions of software, within a week of confirmation of the loss of support from any one individual. This MAY be done by ensuring someone else has any necessary keys, passwords, and legal rights to continue the project. Individuals who run a FLOSS project MAY do this by providing keys in a lockbox and a will providing any needed legal rights (e.g., for DNS names). (URL required) [access_continuity]

    There are several users who have admin rights for the gitlab Kea repository. They live in different regions (US, Czechia, Poland, UK). See Senior management tab on https://www.isc.org/team/


    Enough for a badge!

    The project SHOULD have a "bus factor" of 2 or more. (URL required) [bus_factor]

    Our bus factor is somewhere around 5. Here's a section about it: https://kea.readthedocs.io/en/kea-1.9.7/arm/security.html#bus-factor


  • Documentation


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST have a documented roadmap that describes what the project intends to do and not do for at least the next year. (URL required) [documentation_roadmap]

    Kea operates on milestones. For the next couple (2-4) months, we have very detailed milestones with specific tasks for each monthly release. We have milestones for major releases (e.g. 2.x). List of milestones: https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/milestones


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST include documentation of the architecture (aka high-level design) of the software produced by the project. If the project does not produce software, select "not applicable" (N/A). (URL required) [documentation_architecture]

    We do have Kea Developer's guide that discusses each Kea component, its architecture, major design choices and much more. Although this is generated with oxygen, we have a lot of text there explaining the big picture. https://jenkins.isc.org/job/Kea_doc/doxygen/


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST document what the user can and cannot expect in terms of security from the software produced by the project (its "security requirements"). (URL required) [documentation_security]

    See Section 23: Kea Security: https://kea.readthedocs.io/en/kea-1.9.7/arm/security.html


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST provide a "quick start" guide for new users to help them quickly do something with the software. (URL required) [documentation_quick_start]

    We do have Quick Start section in the Kea ARM: https://kea.readthedocs.io/en/kea-1.8.2/arm/quickstart.html


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST make an effort to keep the documentation consistent with the current version of the project results (including software produced by the project). Any known documentation defects making it inconsistent MUST be fixed. If the documentation is generally current, but erroneously includes some older information that is no longer true, just treat that as a defect, then track and fix as usual. [documentation_current]

    We maintain multiple doc versions, one per release. See https://kea.readthedocs.io/en/kea-1.8.2/index.html (click on version in the lower left corner to switch between doc versions). We have mark tickets that address doc problems or require doc problems with a dedicated label. As of time of writing, there were 201 closed doc tickets, with 68 still open. Up to date list: https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/boards/18?scope=all&utf8=%E2%9C%93&state=opened&label_name[]=doc


    Enough for a badge!

    The project repository front page and/or website MUST identify and hyperlink to any achievements, including this best practices badge, within 48 hours of public recognition that the achievement has been attained. (URL required) [documentation_achievements]

    We show several badges, including CII: https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea


  • Accessibility and internationalization


    Enough for a badge!

    The project (both project sites and project results) SHOULD follow accessibility best practices so that persons with disabilities can still participate in the project and use the project results where it is reasonable to do so. [accessibility_best_practices]

    Kea is a command-line tool, so in principle is accessibility friendly. Our website and documentation use basic technologies that should be screen reader friendly. We use industry standards (github, gitlab, mailman mailing list) for providing a variety of access methods.


    Enough for a badge!

    The software produced by the project SHOULD be internationalized to enable easy localization for the target audience's culture, region, or language. If internationalization (i18n) does not apply (e.g., the software doesn't generate text intended for end-users and doesn't sort human-readable text), select "not applicable" (N/A). [internationalization]

    Kea software uses .mes files that list all possible messages Kea can print. Those files can be translated, including the descriptive paragraphs for each message. However, due to massive complexity of the software, so far we are not aware of any translation attempts. Details here: https://kea.readthedocs.io/en/kea-1.8.2/kea-messages.html


  • Other


    Enough for a badge!

    If the project sites (website, repository, and download URLs) store passwords for authentication of external users, the passwords MUST be stored as iterated hashes with a per-user salt by using a key stretching (iterated) algorithm (e.g., Argon2id, Bcrypt, Scrypt, or PBKDF2). If the project sites do not store passwords for this purpose, select "not applicable" (N/A). [sites_password_security]

    We use github and gitlab.


  • Bug-reporting process


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST use an issue tracker for tracking individual issues. [report_tracker]

    https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/issues


  • Vulnerability report process


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST give credit to the reporter(s) of all vulnerability reports resolved in the last 12 months, except for the reporter(s) who request anonymity. If there have been no vulnerabilities resolved in the last 12 months, select "not applicable" (N/A). (URL required) [vulnerability_report_credit]

    Kea enjoys very thorough, massive testing process (6000 unit-tests, 1500 system tests) and multiple automated tools (coverity scan, cppcheck, valgrind, thread sanitizer, shellcheck, danger, etc), fuzzing (afl) and stability tests (perfdhcp). We haven't had a security incident in well over a year.


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST have a documented process for responding to vulnerability reports. (URL required) [vulnerability_response_process]

    We do have it: https://kb.isc.org/docs/aa-00861 and https://www.isc.org/reportbug/. Also, our gitlab has a note how to report vulnerability reports, see the bug template: https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/blob/master/.gitlab/issue_templates/bug_report.md We do have similar note for github.


  • Coding standards


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST identify the specific coding style guides for the primary languages it uses, and require that contributions generally comply with it. (URL required) [coding_standards]

    Sure we do. I can't imagine having a large project without coding guidelines: https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/wikis/Processes/coding-guidelines


    Not enough for a badge.

    The project MUST automatically enforce its selected coding style(s) if there is at least one FLOSS tool that can do so in the selected language(s). [coding_standards_enforced]

    We don't enforce it yet, because of large amounts of legacy code and lots of merge requests being constantly in progress.


  • Working build system


    Enough for a badge!

    Build systems for native binaries MUST honor the relevant compiler and linker (environment) variables passed in to them (e.g., CC, CFLAGS, CXX, CXXFLAGS, and LDFLAGS) and pass them to compiler and linker invocations. A build system MAY extend them with additional flags; it MUST NOT simply replace provided values with its own. If no native binaries are being generated, select "not applicable" (N/A). [build_standard_variables]

    We're using autotools (autoconf, automake and friends) and do our best to play by the rules. Details here: https://kea.readthedocs.io/en/kea-1.8.2/arm/install.html#configure-before-the-build


    Enough for a badge!

    The build and installation system SHOULD preserve debugging information if they are requested in the relevant flags (e.g., "install -s" is not used). If there is no build or installation system (e.g., typical JavaScript libraries), select "not applicable" (N/A). [build_preserve_debug]

    We try to provide flexible environment. The user can specify whatever debugging options for g++ he/she wishes. We also have --enable-debug that conveniently enables -O0 -g and couple other things. It's by no means mandatory and user can specify or tweak flags as desired.


    Unknown required information, not enough for a badge.

    The build system for the software produced by the project MUST NOT recursively build subdirectories if there are cross-dependencies in the subdirectories. If there is no build or installation system (e.g., typical JavaScript libraries), select "not applicable" (N/A). [build_non_recursive]

    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST be able to repeat the process of generating information from source files and get exactly the same bit-for-bit result. If no building occurs (e.g., scripting languages where the source code is used directly instead of being compiled), select "not applicable" (N/A). [build_repeatable]

    running make distcheck is part of our build process and it's verified after each commit that's merged on master.


  • Installation system


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST provide a way to easily install and uninstall the software produced by the project using a commonly-used convention. [installation_common]

    User who like to compile can do the usual make install, make uninstall. We also provide native (DEB, RPM, APK) packages for many distros that make the installation and removal easy. The nature of this project (DHCP server) implies that some manual configuration is necessary.


    Enough for a badge!

    The installation system for end-users MUST honor standard conventions for selecting the location where built artifacts are written to at installation time. For example, if it installs files on a POSIX system it MUST honor the DESTDIR environment variable. If there is no installation system or no standard convention, select "not applicable" (N/A). [installation_standard_variables]

    Yes, we're using normal autoconf/automake regime. --prefix and more detailed switches (--bindir, --sbindir, --libexecdir, --runstatedir and more) are available.


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST provide a way for potential developers to quickly install all the project results and support environment necessary to make changes, including the tests and test environment. This MUST be performed with a commonly-used convention. [installation_development_quick]

    We do have a Developer's guide that explains how to set up the test environment to run unit-tests. Also have a dedicated tool named hammer that can automate installing Kea on bare metal or spin up VMs with requested mandatory and optional dependencies. For details, see https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/blob/master/hammer.py.


  • Externally-maintained components


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST list external dependencies in a computer-processable way. (URL required) [external_dependencies]

    Kea can be compiled using GNU autotools (with using automated configure script) or installed using native (DEB, RPM or APK) packages. The autotools automatically detect presence or absence of external dependencies. The packages have listed external dependencies, so they're installed automatically. Details in the package scripts: https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea-packaging


    Unknown required information, not enough for a badge.

    Projects MUST monitor or periodically check their external dependencies (including convenience copies) to detect known vulnerabilities, and fix exploitable vulnerabilities or verify them as unexploitable. [dependency_monitoring]

    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST either:
    1. make it easy to identify and update reused externally-maintained components; or
    2. use the standard components provided by the system or programming language.
    Then, if a vulnerability is found in a reused component, it will be easy to update that component. [updateable_reused_components]

    Kea has a -W option that lists external dependencies used during compilation, including their versions. The configure script (typical GNU autotools) provide an option to use alternative components (such as patched dependency in non-standard location). The dependencies are well documented in the Kea ARM document (see https://kea.readthedocs.io/en/kea-1.8.2/arm/intro.html#required-software-at-run-time).


    Enough for a badge!

    The project SHOULD avoid using deprecated or obsolete functions and APIs where FLOSS alternatives are available in the set of technology it uses (its "technology stack") and to a supermajority of the users the project supports (so that users have ready access to the alternative). [interfaces_current]

    We try to not use deprecated or obsolete functions and APIs. When possible, we print out a warning that a dependency (e.g. openssl) is too old and we disable TLS support in Kea. For some cases, e.g. CentOS 7, which still is popular, we attempt to provide alternatives, e.g. you need to install newer openssl. all the technology stack is open source (mostly gcc, but also flex, bison, and other smaller open source tools).


  • Automated test suite


    Enough for a badge!

    An automated test suite MUST be applied on each check-in to a shared repository for at least one branch. This test suite MUST produce a report on test success or failure. [automated_integration_testing]

    We do have a massive (6000+ unit-tests, 1500 system tests) test farm. It is run after each check-in.


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST add regression tests to an automated test suite for at least 50% of the bugs fixed within the last six months. [regression_tests_added50]

    We try to live by the TDD (test driven development) philosophy. Except some rare corner cases, each fix or new functionality has new unit tests. For non-trivial features or bugfixes system tests are frequently developed by an independent QA. Often the system tests are ready before the functionality is ready.


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST have FLOSS automated test suite(s) that provide at least 80% statement coverage if there is at least one FLOSS tool that can measure this criterion in the selected language. [test_statement_coverage80]

    We have developed a generic DHCP/DNS testing suite called ISC Forge. It's published under ISC license. See https://github.com/isc-projects/forge


  • New functionality testing


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST have a formal written policy that as major new functionality is added, tests for the new functionality MUST be added to an automated test suite. [test_policy_mandated]

    Yes, it's part of out coding guidelines: https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/wikis/Processes/coding-guidelines and https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST include, in its documented instructions for change proposals, the policy that tests are to be added for major new functionality. [tests_documented_added]

    https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md


  • Warning flags


    Enough for a badge!

    Projects MUST be maximally strict with warnings in the software produced by the project, where practical. [warnings_strict]

    By default, our configure script enables the following extra switches in g++: -Wall -Wextra -Wnon-virtual-dtor -Wwrite-strings -Woverloaded-virtual -Wno-sign-compare -pthread -Wno-missing-field-initializers -fPIC. Note the -Wall and -Wextra. Many of our builds are run with -Werror. We do experiments with -Wpedantic sometimes, but we're not fully committed to that idea yet.


  • Secure development knowledge


    Unknown required information, not enough for a badge.

    The project MUST implement secure design principles (from "know_secure_design"), where applicable. If the project is not producing software, select "not applicable" (N/A). [implement_secure_design]

  • Use basic good cryptographic practices

    Note that some software does not need to use cryptographic mechanisms. If your project produces software that (1) includes, activates, or enables encryption functionality, and (2) might be released from the United States (US) to outside the US or to a non-US-citizen, you may be legally required to take a few extra steps. Typically this just involves sending an email. For more information, see the encryption section of Understanding Open Source Technology & US Export Controls.

    Enough for a badge!

    The default security mechanisms within the software produced by the project MUST NOT depend on cryptographic algorithms or modes with known serious weaknesses (e.g., the SHA-1 cryptographic hash algorithm or the CBC mode in SSH). [crypto_weaknesses]

    We use security for TSIG, but there is no default algorithm, it must be positively specified.


    Enough for a badge!

    The project SHOULD support multiple cryptographic algorithms, so users can quickly switch if one is broken. Common symmetric key algorithms include AES, Twofish, and Serpent. Common cryptographic hash algorithm alternatives include SHA-2 (including SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384 AND SHA-512) and SHA-3. [crypto_algorithm_agility]

    We support HMAC-MD5 (for backward compatibility), HMAC-SHA1, HMAC-SHA224, HMAC-SHA256, HMAC-SHA384 and HMAC-SHA512 in our TSIG implementation.


    Unknown required information, not enough for a badge.

    The project MUST support storing authentication credentials (such as passwords and dynamic tokens) and private cryptographic keys in files that are separate from other information (such as configuration files, databases, and logs), and permit users to update and replace them without code recompilation. If the project never processes authentication credentials and private cryptographic keys, select "not applicable" (N/A). [crypto_credential_agility]

    Enough for a badge!

    The software produced by the project SHOULD support secure protocols for all of its network communications, such as SSHv2 or later, TLS1.2 or later (HTTPS), IPsec, SFTP, and SNMPv3. Insecure protocols such as FTP, HTTP, telnet, SSLv3 or earlier, and SSHv1 SHOULD be disabled by default, and only enabled if the user specifically configures it. If the software produced by the project does not support network communications, select "not applicable" (N/A). [crypto_used_network]

    As of April 2021, we have implemented TLS support in Kea.


    Enough for a badge!

    The software produced by the project SHOULD, if it supports or uses TLS, support at least TLS version 1.2. Note that the predecessor of TLS was called SSL. If the software does not use TLS, select "not applicable" (N/A). [crypto_tls12]

    We support TLS 1.3. Details: https://kea.readthedocs.io/en/kea-1.9.7/arm/security.html#tls-https-support


    Enough for a badge!

    The software produced by the project MUST, if it supports TLS, perform TLS certificate verification by default when using TLS, including on subresources. If the software does not use TLS, select "not applicable" (N/A). [crypto_certificate_verification]

    Enough for a badge!

    The software produced by the project MUST, if it supports TLS, perform certificate verification before sending HTTP headers with private information (such as secure cookies). If the software does not use TLS, select "not applicable" (N/A). [crypto_verification_private]

  • Secure release


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST cryptographically sign releases of the project results intended for widespread use, and there MUST be a documented process explaining to users how they can obtain the public signing keys and verify the signature(s). The private key for these signature(s) MUST NOT be on site(s) used to directly distribute the software to the public. If releases are not intended for widespread use, select "not applicable" (N/A). [signed_releases]

    All releases are signed and each release notes document has a note about how to check them. See example here: https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/wikis/release%20notes/release-notes-1.9.5#download and a general instructions how to check the signatures: https://www.isc.org/pgpkey/


    Enough for a badge!

    It is SUGGESTED that in the version control system, each important version tag (a tag that is part of a major release, minor release, or fixes publicly noted vulnerabilities) be cryptographically signed and verifiable as described in signed_releases. [version_tags_signed]

    We use the standard capabilities of GITLAB. See details here: https://gitlab.isc.org/isc-projects/kea/-/releases


  • Other security issues


    Enough for a badge!

    The project results MUST check all inputs from potentially untrusted sources to ensure they are valid (an *allowlist*), and reject invalid inputs, if there are any restrictions on the data at all. [input_validation]

    DHCP often being the first packets exchanged with an unknown new device entering the network, we pay strict attention to data sanitization, including truncated, malformed, oversized fields, options and packets etc. The requests received over Kea management API undergo sanity checks before they're processed. We have substantial amount of system and unit tests that check for broken input. We also do fuzz testing for incoming packets and configuration files.


    Unknown required information, not enough for a badge.

    Hardening mechanisms SHOULD be used in the software produced by the project so that software defects are less likely to result in security vulnerabilities. [hardening]

    Unknown required information, not enough for a badge.

    The project MUST provide an assurance case that justifies why its security requirements are met. The assurance case MUST include: a description of the threat model, clear identification of trust boundaries, an argument that secure design principles have been applied, and an argument that common implementation security weaknesses have been countered. (URL required) [assurance_case]

  • Static code analysis


    Enough for a badge!

    The project MUST use at least one static analysis tool with rules or approaches to look for common vulnerabilities in the analyzed language or environment, if there is at least one FLOSS tool that can implement this criterion in the selected language. [static_analysis_common_vulnerabilities]

    Coverity Scan, cppcheck, danger, clang static analyzer, shellcheck


  • Dynamic code analysis


    Enough for a badge!

    If the software produced by the project includes software written using a memory-unsafe language (e.g., C or C++), then at least one dynamic tool (e.g., a fuzzer or web application scanner) MUST be routinely used in combination with a mechanism to detect memory safety problems such as buffer overwrites. If the project does not produce software written in a memory-unsafe language, choose "not applicable" (N/A). [dynamic_analysis_unsafe]

    We run valgrind tests under Jenkins, use cppcheck, and thread sanitizer from clang.



This data is available under the Community Data License Agreement – Permissive, Version 2.0 (CDLA-Permissive-2.0). This means that a Data Recipient may share the Data, with or without modifications, so long as the Data Recipient makes available the text of this agreement with the shared Data. Please credit Vicky Risk and the OpenSSF Best Practices badge contributors.

Project badge entry owned by: Vicky Risk.
Entry created on 2016-05-03 15:46:35 UTC, last updated on 2025-02-06 12:43:24 UTC. Last achieved passing badge on 2021-03-22 15:34:49 UTC.

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