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+======================
+Nanopb: Security model
+======================
+
+.. include :: menu.rst
+
+.. contents ::
+
+
+
+Importance of security in a Protocol Buffers library
+====================================================
+In the context of protocol buffers, security comes into play when decoding
+untrusted data. Naturally, if the attacker can modify the contents of a
+protocol buffers message, he can feed the application any values possible.
+Therefore the application itself must be prepared to receive untrusted values.
+
+Where nanopb plays a part is preventing the attacker from running arbitrary
+code on the target system. Mostly this means that there must not be any
+possibility to cause buffer overruns, memory corruption or invalid pointers
+by the means of crafting a malicious message.
+
+Division of trusted and untrusted data
+======================================
+The following data is regarded as **trusted**. It must be under the control of
+the application writer. Malicious data in these structures could cause
+security issues, such as execution of arbitrary code:
+
+1. Callback, pointer and extension fields in message structures given to
+   pb_encode() and pb_decode(). These fields are memory pointers, and are
+   generated depending on the message definition in the .proto file.
+2. The automatically generated field definitions, i.e. *pb_field_t* lists.
+3. Contents of the *pb_istream_t* and *pb_ostream_t* structures (this does not
+   mean the contents of the stream itself, just the stream definition).
+
+The following data is regarded as **untrusted**. Invalid/malicious data in
+these will cause "garbage in, garbage out" behaviour. It will not cause
+buffer overflows, information disclosure or other security problems:
+
+1. All data read from *pb_istream_t*.
+2. All fields in message structures, except:
+   
+   - callbacks (*pb_callback_t* structures)
+   - pointer fields (malloc support) and *_count* fields for pointers
+   - extensions (*pb_extension_t* structures)
+
+Invariants
+==========
+The following invariants are maintained during operation, even if the
+untrusted data has been maliciously crafted:
+
+1. Nanopb will never read more than *bytes_left* bytes from *pb_istream_t*.
+2. Nanopb will never write more than *max_size* bytes to *pb_ostream_t*.
+3. Nanopb will never access memory out of bounds of the message structure.
+4. After pb_decode() returns successfully, the message structure will be
+   internally consistent:
+
+   - The *count* fields of arrays will not exceed the array size.
+   - The *size* field of bytes will not exceed the allocated size.
+   - All string fields will have null terminator.
+
+5. After pb_encode() returns successfully, the resulting message is a valid
+   protocol buffers message. (Except if user-defined callbacks write incorrect
+   data.)
+
+Further considerations
+======================
+Even if the nanopb library is free of any security issues, there are still
+several possible attack vectors that the application author must consider.
+The following list is not comprehensive:
+
+1. Stack usage may depend on the contents of the message. The message
+   definition places an upper bound on how much stack will be used. Tests
+   should be run with all fields present, to record the maximum possible
+   stack usage.
+2. Callbacks can do anything. The code for the callbacks must be carefully
+   checked if they are used with untrusted data.
+3. If using stream input, a maximum size should be set in *pb_istream_t* to
+   stop a denial of service attack from using an infinite message.
+4. If using network sockets as streams, a timeout should be set to stop
+   denial of service attacks.
+5. If using *malloc()* support, some method of limiting memory use should be
+   employed. This can be done by defining custom *pb_realloc()* function.
+   Nanopb will properly detect and handle failed memory allocations.