Bug#768914: netcfg/wireless_wpa is type string, not type password

["Trent W. Buck" <trentbuck@gmail.com>]

Package: netcfg
Severity: minor

I just installed wheezy over WPA and ran into #694068.
While investigating that, I grepped for my PSK across /.

I found it in /var/log/installer/cdebconf/questions.dat under
netcfg/wireless_wpa.  It is stored in cleartext; the file is only
readable by root.

In templates.dat (same dir), I see

    Name: netcfg/wireless_wpa
    Type: string
    Description: WPA/WPA2 passphrase [...]

Since it's a PASSPHRASE, shouldn't it be Type: password?

Normal users cannot read questions.dat,
so I don't think this is an immediate problem.


(FWIW hostapd's wpa_psk_file option lets each device have its own PSK,
so when Mallet is sacked and his PSK is revoked, he can't simply spoof
Alice's MAC and use his PSK to get in.  I don't use EAP-TLS client
certs because support for that is depressingly limited.

This means my PSKs are "more secret" than your typical home network
where there's one shared PSK that everyone knows.)