Blog News The GPG key used to sign GitLab Runner packages has been rotated
Published on: June 16, 2021
3 min read

The GPG key used to sign GitLab Runner packages has been rotated

Out of an abundance of caution we’ve rotated the impacted keys and tokens.

default-blog-image.png

GitLab uses a GPG key to sign official GitLab Runner packages. We recently became aware of an instance where this key and other tokens used to distribute official GitLab Runner packages and binaries were not secured according to GitLab’s security policies.

We have not found any evidence of unauthorized modification of the packages or access to the services storing them. Our team has audited and investigated integrity hashes, bucket logs and versioning, and pipeline history and concluded that the unauthorized modification of any packages is exceedingly unlikely.

Out of an abundance of caution, the GPG key used for release signing and verification has been rotated along with all other tokens that were improperly secured.

If you use GitLab.com shared runners, this does not impact you.

As of June 8, 2021 the old key used for the package signing, with the fingerprint 3018 3AC2 C4E2 3A40 9EFB E705 9CE4 5ABC 8807 21D4, has been revoked. The GPG fingerprint of the new key is 09E5 7083 F34C CA94 D541 BC58 A674 BF81 35DF A027. Please check the https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/install/linux-repository.html#gpg-signatures-for-package-installation for more details on the key.

All unsecured keys and tokens have been revoked or retired and updated with new ones.

How does this affect existing users and what action is needed?

Users that do not use package signature verification (which is the default setup in most DEB/RPM systems) will be not affected by this key rotation.

Users who employ the package signature verification for either DEB or RPM packages should immediately update the key to download the revocation certificate. Users can find configuration details and links to GPG keys at https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/install/linux-repository.html#gpg-signatures-for-package-installation. All packages and release.sha256 files starting from June 13, 2021 will be signed with the new key.

The old key should be treated as compromised. While existing signatures on GitLab Runner’s packages or release.sha256 files will still be valid, it’s recommended to not trust them. We have updated the old packages and our S3 releases by signing all required files with the new key, so that they can be trusted again.

What does this mean for new users?

This key rotation does not affect new users.

However, users who want to start using package signature verification should confirm that they have downloaded the new key. The verification key is available at https://docs.gitlab.com/runner/install/linux-repository.html#gpg-signatures-for-package-installation.

If you have questions

If you have concerns regarding this incident that are not addressed via this communication, kindly reach out to the GitLab Support team via email at [email protected] with your questions or concerns.

We want to hear from you

Enjoyed reading this blog post or have questions or feedback? Share your thoughts by creating a new topic in the GitLab community forum. Share your feedback

Ready to get started?

See what your team could do with a unified DevSecOps Platform.

Get free trial

Find out which plan works best for your team

Learn about pricing

Learn about what GitLab can do for your team

Talk to an expert