this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2024
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Anyone got a link for this topic that isn’t a video?

[–] BOFH666 25 points 7 months ago
[–] [email protected] 21 points 7 months ago

Good explainer, if you need to catch up like I did:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/XZ_Utils

Read the supply chain attack section.

Also, from the video...

X is losing its action! We LIKE!

Hell yeah we like.

[–] BOFH666 14 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Thanks for the pointer.

This is really huge, but people don't quite understand that yet.

If this wasn't caught, every system -running public sshd- could be hacked or abused/misused.

And I completely agree with the last words, corporate should pay foss projects!

[–] SMillerNL 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Even paid it might be hard to find maintainers with knowledge of the code

[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

For all those wanting to know what version of the xz package you have, DO NOT use xz -V or xz --version. Ask your package manager instead; e.g. apt info xz-utils. Executing a potentially malicious binary IS NOT a good idea, so ask your package manager instead.

[–] youngGoku 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (3 children)

So if I have been using arch with infected xz library to connect to a Debian LTS server, am I compromised?

[–] cybersandwich 9 points 7 months ago

Assume yes until you can prove otherwise.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (3 children)

From what I've read both arch and debian stable aren't vulnerable to this. It targeted mostly debian-testing.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

Arch put out a statement saying users should update to a non infected binary even though it doesn’t appear to affect Arch https://archlinux.org/news/the-xz-package-has-been-backdoored/

However, out of an abundance of caution, we advise users to remove the malicious code from their system by upgrading either way. This is because other yet-to-be discovered methods to exploit the backdoor could exist.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I would pay attention to the news. You definitely want to upgrade immediately if you have not already

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

I need the IASIP meme for this thumbnail

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://piped.video/watch?v=gyOz9s4ydho

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

That thumbnail is something else