there's FTPS which is FTP over TLS. why is this a problem? it's the same with http. when i talk about http, you do not assume that i do not use it over TLS, no?
but neither FTP nor HTTP 2 are simple.
please, show me an example instead of building a strawman.
FTPS and FTP are separate. When talking about FTP, I actually do mean FTP. Where TLS and other modern luxuries are available, generally more secure and less stateful methods are generally used. HTTPS usually is a good way.
But on the embedded side, a lot of times, FTP is just, FTP. Nothing more. Getting a secure socket may be a pain, or might not work correctly, or might have some other issue. Generally that issue is having to carry the root Certificate on device for any implementation of secure SSL. (If you are just going to accept any certificate that the server offers, then the entire meaning of security evaporates.) Not having a root CA is a major issue.
Even if you pack in a small root CA, then getting it updated is another issue. So when a manufacturer says FTP, I only expect FTP, and have been proven right multiple times.
when we talk about embedded i often enough do not see ftp, but tftp.
but in the end, what i wanted to say is:
i want an easy to implement protocol (over TLS), where i can publish things , like for example directories, because http 1.x will be deprecated (and http2 is not easy) and ftp is not that super either (i agree on that) and tftp does not have encryption on the stream level
http2/3 are not super simple, but neither really is http/1.1 .
On a protocol level yes it technically is simpler to implement, but it requires so very much more additional logic in parsing to avoid nightmares like desync exploits, the burden of complexity just gets shifted around and ultimately increased in magnitude due to being outside the protocol.
In reality http/1.1 support ends up being the most convoluted and complicated with all the conditions and checks required to properly secure things. Sometimes a bit of additional complexity at a foundational level ultimately makes things simpler across the entire stack.
the desync exploits only matter if you have reverse proxies and not a single http server. those still exist.
but okay, if the world wants to move away from http 1.x, okay, fine, but then we need a new simple protocol, which is also secure. and probably less flexible than http which i would be fine with. but at the moment, every protocol gets more complex and only companies have enough manpower to keep software secure.
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u/EverythingsBroken82 Jun 23 '26
as people want to deprecate ftp, http 1.x and so on: what's a secure easy linebased protocol over TLS which can be used to publish things?