[tor-bugs] #28295 [Core Tor/Nyx]: Non-interactive way to supply ControlPort password for nyx and tor-prompt is needed

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#28295: Non-interactive way to supply ControlPort password for nyx and tor-prompt
is needed
--------------------------+------------------------------
 Reporter:  wagon         |          Owner:  atagar
     Type:  enhancement   |         Status:  assigned
 Priority:  Medium        |      Milestone:
Component:  Core Tor/Nyx  |        Version:  Tor: 0.3.4.8
 Severity:  Normal        |     Resolution:
 Keywords:                |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                |         Points:
 Reviewer:                |        Sponsor:
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Comment (by wagon):

 > From a technical standpoint I'm unsure it's useful, since a persisted
 config password is effectively cookie authentication. Said another way, in
 authentication schemes a password is 'something you know' whereas cookie
 auth is 'something you have'. If you write your password into a text file
 it's just a poor man's cookie authentication.
 I would say the opposite: cookie authentication is a poor man's password
 authentication.

 When you use cookie file (i.e. socket mechanism of communication between
 processes):

 1. You cannot use standard firewall tools to monitor access to this file
 and report all unauthenticated access attempts. You cannot later
 investigate possible incidents and get information: who (user), when
 (time), and why (malicious or not?) accessed Tor's `ControlPort`. Strictly
 speaking, it is still possible to monitor access with some non-standard
 sophisticated mechanisms, but I consider them to be more hard to learn and
 use (than firewall).
 2. By default (if you don't use ACL) you are restricted to standard UNIX
 mechanisms of access control for the cookie file. (For example, you cannot
 make a single file readable for one user group, but writable for another
 user group.) Though I cannot tell now some good example when this may be
 needed,  potentially it may happen.

 Thus, if you have a properly configured firewall, you get very powerful
 and flexible solution for both  the access control and the monitoring.

 However, despite you can configure such a firewall for your needs, there
 is no standard firewall tool for everybody which works out-of-the-box for
 most configurations. Without such firewall tool the password
 authentication doesn't give you more than cookie authentication. So, for
 layman Tor users, cookie authentication (now working in many systems) is a
 very simple but still sufficiently secure out-of-the-box solution. Using
 firewall and password authentication and can do the same and much more,
 but most of people either don't need it or don't have time and knowledge
 to configure it.

 > I'll be sure it's included in the next release
 Good news! Thank you!

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/28295#comment:5>
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