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Description of problem: The rpm man page does not warn us that files listed under %exclude or %config(missingok) in the spec file will be falsely reported as perfect match when in fact they differ from the version shipped in the .rpm file. For example, /bin/ipcalc in initscripts. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): rpm-4.7.2-1.fc12.i686 initscripts-9.02.2-1.i686 Linux gamma.localnet 2.6.32.14-127.fc12.i686.PAE #1 SMP Fri May 28 04:47:04 UTC 2010 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux How reproducible: perfectly. Steps to Reproduce: [root@gamma ~]# mkdir initscripts [root@gamma ~]# cd initscripts/ [root@gamma initscripts]# yumdownloader initscripts Loaded plugins: dellsysidplugin2, refresh-packagekit initscripts-9.02.2-1.i686.rpm | 931 kB 00:00 [root@gamma initscripts]# rpm -q initscripts initscripts-9.02.2-1.i686 [root@gamma initscripts]# rpm2cpio initscripts-9.02.2-1.i686.rpm | cpio --extract --make 11276 blocks [root@gamma initscripts]# cmp bin/ipcalc /bin/ipcalc bin/ipcalc /bin/ipcalc differ: byte 33, line 1 [root@gamma initscripts]# rpm --verify initscripts ..5....T. c /etc/inittab [root@gamma initscripts]# rpm --verify --verbose initscripts | grep ipcalc ......... /bin/ipcalc ......... d /usr/share/man/man1/ipcalc.1.gz [root@gamma initscripts]# man rpm Actual results: The man page explains about exceptions for documentation files, configuration files, ghost files, license files, readme files, but does not mention any exception for %exclude files or %config(missingok) files. c %config configuration file. d %doc documentation file. g %ghost file (i.e. the file contents are not included in the package payload). l %license license file. r %readme readme file. Expected results: The man page should mention that there are also %exclude and %config(missingok) files which will not be compared but which will be reported as matching even if they do not match. Alternatively, rpm should be fixed to add attribute markers for %exclude and %config(missingok) files in the verify report, and it should go ahead and do the comparison and report the results, as it does for configuration files, etc. Of course, this still requires changes in the man page. Additional info: See also Bug 124514 - rpm verify misses "missing files/links" The reporter failed to point out the missing documentation and it was closed as NOTABUG because rpm experts expected that behavior. In that case, it was %config(missingok) in the spec file. Considering those two undocumented (in the man page) exceptions, there might be others as well.
RPM --verify compares explicit file information from header metadata with what is actually installed. With %exclude there is no metadata to use for the comparison. In fact, %exclude is a directive to indicate that a file should NOT be included in a package whatsoever. With %config(missingok) a comparison isn't possible because the file on the filesystem isn't present. The %config(missingok) directive is used to indicate to --verify that a file that isn't present is an acceptable condition. So its not clear what you are expecting from --verify with files that aren't in a package and for files which are not present (which is marked as an acceptable non-error condition).
Well, in the /bin/ipcalc case, the file is present in the rpm when unpacked using rpm2cpio ... | cpio --extract --make. And the file is listed in the rpm -ql, and rpm -qf /bin/ipcalc says initscripts is the package which provided the file. And, rpm --verify --verbose initscripts reports that /bin/ipcalc is an exact match for the payload in the rpm, even though it is not. So, if rpm does not actually compare the file, then it should not say that it does. And if the file comes from some other place, then rpm should not say it comes from initscripts. By the way, where does it come from? In the case of missingok, the output of verify should be different from the case of a file which is an exact match. It should have a missingok attribute letter, and the difference columns should show failure to match. Or in the alternative, the man page should include the information in comment number two, warning us that the --verify output is not to be taken literally in all cases, and telling us how to extract the spec file from the SRPM in order to find out if this is the case.
How am I supposed to know whether or not /bin/ipcalc has been modified by a rootkit? (Assuming of course that the rpm database is hosted in a secure location... and rpm itself is secure, as in a rescue disk?) What good is rpm --verify if it lies?
My comments were addressed generally to an RFE to add %exclude or %config(missingok) to --verify. Examine the /bin/ipcalc file install state (using -qs) and the file verify flags. rpm (like any program) doesn't randomly claim that a file is part of package when it isn't, nore does it flip a coin to decide what comparison operations to perform with --verify. How do you know that /bin/rpm hasn't been altered by a rootkit, and displaying wrong information? The answer for rootkit forensics is beyond the scope of a rpm bug report, but may include extracting the file digest and comparing with the digest computed from the installed content, or comparing with the original packaging, or examining the install state and file verify flags and other install state (like verifyflag disablers) associated with a file. But if you believe "rpm --verify" lies to you, do not use it. Its your system, and your security, and your decision, not anything else.
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/bin/ipcalc is %config(missingok) or %exclude'd but a regular ELF binary, and the difference comes from our good friend prelink mixing things up. Rpm undoes prelinking when verifying so it doesn't show up as modified, 'cmp' only looks at the raw data as its on disk. No bug here.