"pcscd PC/SC Smart Card Daemon" ?

[Izaac]

@chudak

Anybody can shed light?

NetGate decided that despite:

• the fact that they don't ship a piece of hardware with such an inerface;
• that almost no one uses smartcards for this purpose;
• the Yubikeys are better handed by a different interface;
• that using a Yubikey for this kind of authentication, i.e. leaving it plugged into your piece of network hardware at all times, pretty much undermines its security model;
• would be entirely more appropriate as a package

it would make sense to have this privileged code running at all times on some of the most memory and processor constrained hardware, without any ability to configure or even disable it, and to plunge the entire system into an error state if should happen to not be running.

[anthonys]

@izaac In the face of it also having a memory leak
https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/12095
which took my SG-1100 to 92% RAM, I have disabled

[mw]

You can stop the pcscd service from starting by editing your /etc/rc.bootup file.

Look for the following:

/* pcscd daemon must be started before IPsec */
echo "Starting PC/SC Smart Card Services...";
mwexec_bg("/usr/local/sbin/pcscd");
echo "done.\n";

Comment out the startup code, like this:

/* pcscd daemon must be started before IPsec */
/*
echo "Starting PC/SC Smart Card Services...";
mwexec_bg("/usr/local/sbin/pcscd");
echo "done.\n";
*/

This code was added in this revision.

[chudak]

@mw said in "pcscd PC/SC Smart Card Daemon" ?:

This code was added in

That's useful, thx

Wonder why it's enabled by default ?!

[jimp]

It won't be enabled by default for long:

https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/11933

[psp]

@mw said in "pcscd PC/SC Smart Card Daemon" ?:

Comment out the startup code, like this:

Just for info, commenting out the startup code and using IPSec, logs are filled up by these errors:
-- Jul 20 09:28:46 charon 78779 02[CFG] error in C_WaitForSlotEvent: GENERAL_ERROR

[mw]

@psp Thanks for the heads up. I don't currently make use of IPsec so didn't think about the consequences.

[viktor_g]

You can use 299.diff patch on 21.05/2.5.2

after applying you can disable pcscd on the VPN/ IPsec / Advanced Settings page:

[chudak]

@viktor_g said in "pcscd PC/SC Smart Card Daemon" ?:

You can use 299.diff patch on 21.05/2.5.2

after applying you can disable pcscd on the VPN/ IPsec / Advanced Settings page:

I applied the patch and enabled PKCS#11 Support (which I don't use BTW)

Saw the service go red and then green again, I guess restarted.

I thought the service would be completely removed and not sure what exactly changed ?

Thx

[jimp]

If you don't want it and don't use it, why did you go out of your way to enable it?

It's off by default which is what you'll want. After applying the patch, leave the box unchecked and then reboot.

[chudak]

@jimp said in "pcscd PC/SC Smart Card Daemon" ?:

If you don't want it and don't use it, why did you go out of your way to enable it?

See the initial post above, I am still trying to get rid of it exactly because I don't use it :)

It's off by default which is what you'll want. After applying the patch, leave the box unchecked and then reboot.

I did that and still see the red "pcscd PC/SC Smart Card Daemon" in the Service Status. Is it expected? If the answer is yes, why ?

[jimp]

The service is still there/defined but disabled. Several other services work the same way. Though it may not take much to hide it in this case. It's not a problem.

[chudak]

@jimp said in "pcscd PC/SC Smart Card Daemon" ?:

The service is still there/defined but disabled. Several other services work the same way. Though it may not take much to hide it in this case. It's not a problem.

OK I take that and thank you!

Before it was not possible to disable it.

It's just odd to see something disabled if you don't use it and even know where it's coming from.

[chudak]

@jimp

To hide it - is it something that can be done locally?

[DaddyGo]

@chudak said in "pcscd PC/SC Smart Card Daemon" ?:

To hide it - is it something that can be done locally?

We, for example, are not as bothered by this as you are

[jimp]

I already added a note to the Redmine stating we'll need to hide the service. I'm not certain how long that might take or how much effort it will be. Probably not much but don't quote me on that.

It is cosmetic only, it doesn't hurt anything. Not many people sit on the service status screen so it doesn't matter. If it bothers you in the widget you can hide it in the widget (hit the wrench in the titlebar of the service status widget, scroll down, uncheck it, save.)

[Izaac]

@daddygo I guess you've never been through a security audit. Allow me to give you a sneak peak:
Some Overseas Checklist Drone: "Why is this red error on your firewall appliance configuration evidence?"
Overworked Administrator: "That feature is disabled."
Drone: "Why do you not use this feature of your firewall appliance?"
Admin: "Because we do not use smartcards as part of our authentication process."
Drone: "Why do you not use smartcards as part of your authentication process?"
Admin: "Because there is no hardware support for it and, in this context, it offers no advantages and makes no sense."
Drone: "I will be leaving this as an open issue for the configuration of your firewall appliance. Enabling all features for full protection from your firewall appliance is needful."

What could (or should) the green/red little icon in the 'Service Status' widget represent? Conformity to the configuration, e.g. if pcscd is not enabled, green shows it correctly stopped and red indicates an error state in which it is operating.

Assuming that doesn't happen, here's a horrifying patch to make it disappear and prevent you from having to "please to be doing" anything:

--- a/usr/local/www/widgets/widgets/services_status.widget.php    2021-05-28 07:35:21.000000000 -0400
+++ b/usr/local/www/widgets/widgets/services_status.widget.php   2021-07-28 08:44:17.790560000 -0400
@@ -31,6 +31,11 @@
 
 $services = get_services();
 
+// horrifying patch for papering over pcscd
+if ($pewpew = array_search('pcscd', array_column($services, 'name'))) {
+       array_splice($services, $pewpew, 1);
+}
+
 $numsvcs = count($services);
 
 for ($idx=0; $idx<$numsvcs; $idx++) {

[johnpoz]

@izaac Oh man that is so true! ;) Sad but true!!

[DaddyGo]

@izaac said in "pcscd PC/SC Smart Card Daemon" ?:

I guess you've never been through a security audit.

No, really, never... maybe teach me how it's done
as Jimp wrote, it's pointless to make a big deal of it, but if you need it just shout it out here..

Thank you for your follow up

[johnpoz]

@daddygo come on dude don't be so serious - that was seriously funny, and spot on.. hehehe

We all get it - but he does have a point about some of the nonsense that can come out of those drone based audits, how many checks can be tallied up without a clue.. But hey these items were discovered that causes extra work and pain for zero reason..

I recall one that just got my dander up.. On why the servers screen savers were not set to lock after 1 minute in the server room

Because its a locked room, in a secured building - and only admins have access to the room.. And 1 minute timeout is counterproductive to actual work.. So its set to 10 minutes..