LWN.net Logo

Details on Ubuntu's UEFI secure boot plan

Details on Ubuntu's UEFI secure boot plan
[Security] Posted Jun 22, 2012 18:32 UTC (Fri) by corbet

Steve Langasek has posted a set of details on how Ubuntu's UEFI secure boot mechanism will work. There are some real differences from the approach taken by Fedora. "Microsoft's Windows 8 logo requirements do say that there must be a way for users to disable secure boot or to install their own keys, and we strongly support this in our own firmware guidelines; but in the event that a manufacturer makes a mistake and delivers a locked-down system with a GRUB 2 image signed by the Ubuntu key, we have not been able to find legal guidance that we wouldn't then be required by the terms of the GPLv3 to disclose our private key in order that users can install a modified boot loader. At that point our certificates would of course be revoked and everyone would end up worse off."

Full Story (comments: 112)

Copyright © 2012, Eklektix, Inc.
Comments and public postings are copyrighted by their creators.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds