Review for Package: src:libtraceevent

[Summary]
This is a very specific library to handle events from the kernel's tracefs,
mounted at /sys/kernel/tracing (or /sys/kernel/debug/tracing).
The libtraceevent (and libtracefs) dependencies are used for the "cxl monitor"
command (and systemd cxl-monitor.service, currently disabled in Debian).
The rationale for providing "cxl monitor" is still a bit unclear, and I would
prefer to keep it disabled, to avoid those MIRs, as is supported by ndctl
upstream as of v76.1.

MIR team NACK

This would (probably?) need a security review.
(Not assigning ubuntu-security, due to my NACK)

List of specific binary packages to be promoted to main:
  libtraceevent-dev, libtraceevent-doc, libtraceevent1, libtraceevent1-plugin
  
Specific binary packages built, but NOT to be promoted to main: <NONE>

Notes:
#0 This seems mostly OK from a security perspective (AFAICT), but it's closely
   working with (trusted?) kernel space and using plenty of malloc's, so I'd opt
   to still have the security team look at it.
#1 ubuntu-server is already set-up as a team subscriber

Required TODOs:
#2 clarify the "#MISSING: ..." entries in .symobls tracking
#3 does not have a test suite that runs at build time
=> Upstream's unit tests from utest/ are being compiled via `make test` but
   don't seem to be executed. At least I cannot spot any of the CUnit output
   in the build log. Please clarify.
#4 does not have a non-trivial test suite that runs as autopkgtest
=> the recently added autopkgtest is superficial, checks compilation only,
   execution of the compiled examples could be an additional test
=> a non-static build of the unit tests runing against the installed version
   as autopkgtest would be a nice addition

Recommended TODOs:
#5 reconsider if we really want/need the static libtraceevent.a library
#6 consider fixing some of the lintian remarks (especially using hardening flags)
=> see [Packaging red flags] below

[Duplication]
There is no other package in main providing the same functionality.
Other Linux tracers include: sysprof, bpftrace, lttng, dtrace (all in universe)

[Dependencies]
OK:
- no other Dependencies to MIR due to this
  - SRCPKG checked with `check-mir`
  - all dependencies can be found in `seeded-in-ubuntu` (already in main)
  - none of the (potentially auto-generated) dependencies (Depends
    and Recommends) that are present after build are not in main
- no -dev/-debug/-doc packages that need exclusion
- No dependencies in main that are only superficially tested requiring
  more tests now.

Problems: None

[Embedded sources and static linking]
OK:
- no embedded source present
- does not have unexpected Built-Using entries
- not a go package, no extra constraints to consider in that regard
- not a rust package, no extra constraints to consider in that regard

Problems:
- A static libtraceevent.a library is being built and shipped in
  libtraceevent-dev (which seems to be OKish from a MIR perspective)

[Security]
OK:
- history of CVEs does not look concerning
- does not run a daemon as root
- does not use webkit1,2
- does not use lib*v8 directly
- does not parse data formats (files [images, video, audio,
  xml, json, asn.1], network packets, structures, ...) from
  an untrusted source.
- does not open a port/socket
- does not process arbitrary web content
- does not use centralized online accounts
- does not integrate arbitrary javascript into the desktop
- does not deal with system authentication (eg, pam), etc)
- does not deal with security attestation (secure boot, tpm, signatures)
- does not deal with cryptography (en-/decryption, certificates, signing, ...)

Problems:
- It parses events from the kernel's tracefs, but I'll consider this a trusted
  source

[Common blockers]
OK:
- does not FTBFS currently
- This does not need special HW for build or test
- no new python2 dependency

Problems:
- does not have a test suite that runs at build time
=> Upstream's unit tests from utest/ are being compiled via `make test` but
   don't seem to be executed. At least I cannot spot any of the CUnit output
   in the build log. Please clarify.
- does not have a non-trivial test suite that runs as autopkgtest
=> the recently added autopkgtest is superficial, checks compilation only,
   execution of the compiled examples could be an additional test
=> a non-static build of the unit tests runing against the installed version
   as autopkgtest would be a nice addition

[Packaging red flags]
OK:
- Ubuntu does carry a delta, but it is reasonable and maintenance under control
- debian/watch is present and looks ok (if needed, e.g. non-native)
- Upstream update history is good
- Debian/Ubuntu update history is good
- the current release is packaged
- promoting this does not seem to cause issues for MOTUs that so far
  maintained the package
- debian/rules is rather clean
- It is not on the lto-disabled list

Problems:
- symbols tracking is in place, but contains several "#MISSING: ..." entries.
  Please clarify.
- no massive Lintian warnings, but a few worth looking at:
W: libtraceevent1-plugin: shared-library-lacks-prerequisites (might be due to being a plugin?)
I: libtraceevent1[-plugin]: hardening-no-bindnow
I: libtraceevent1[-plugin]: hardening-no-fortify-functions
I: libtraceevent source: superficial-tests [debian/tests/control]
I: libtraceevent1: symbols-file-missing-build-depends-package-field libtraceevent.so.1 [symbols]
I: libtraceevent-doc: "spelling-error-in-description" and plenty of "typo-in-manual-page"
P: libtraceevent source: no-homepage-field
P: libtraceevent source: silent-on-rules-requiring-root [debian/control]

[Upstream red flags]
OK:
- no Errors/warnings during the build
- no incautious use of malloc/sprintf (as far as we can check it)
- no use of sudo, gksu, pkexec, or LD_LIBRARY_PATH (usage is OK inside tests)
- no use of user nobody
- no use of setuid
- no important open bugs (crashers, etc) in Debian or Ubuntu
- no dependency on webkit, qtwebkit, seed or libgoa-*
- not part of the UI for extra checks
- no translation present, but none needed for this case (user visible)?

Problems: None