Zack's Kernel News
Zack's Kernel News
Zack Brown reports on developer trust.
Developer Trust
In recent days, the infamous "XZ backdoor" has the entire open source world reconsidering its development practices. Essentially, a bad actor joined an open source project, submitted some good patches to gain the trust of the developers, and eventually submitted some cleverly hidden security holes that were actually accepted into the project. It was only when a regular user noticed some odd timing behaviors in the tool and decided to track down the issue that the whole thing came to light.
The open source project was not the Linux kernel, but the tool came very close to being included in many Linux distributions. From there of course, it would have been inside the foundational infrastructure of the entire Internet and almost every corporate network within the known universe.
It's absolutely not the first time this has been attempted, and, of course, there could be any number of similar backdoors that have not yet been discovered. The whole experience has been a wake-up call for the open source world to re-examine their code review practices. For example, one reason the XZ backdoor was able to make it into the project was because the maintainer was overworked and burnt out. So the issue is about more than simply expecting everyone to work harder. We'll be seeing the true effects of this wake-up call for years to come.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Digital Autonomy
• The Answer Was Already on the Shelf
• Changing the Chip Industry: How Public Investment Has Grown Open Silicon
• United Nations Open Source Portal Goes Live
• EU Open Source Strategy Plays Key Role in Tech Sovereignty Package
• France Says “Au Revoir” to Microsoft
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Pine64 Halts Production of Linux Devices
With continued DRAM and eMMC shortages, Pine64 has decided to discontinue production of Linux devices.
-
The Bullet-Proof KDE Software Initiative Is Coming
KDE, Techpaladin, and Kubuntu Focus have announced a new initiative that will provide at least three years of support for KDE Plasma 6.6 LTS and related software.
-
Linux Mint Shares a Possible Kernel Cleanup Solution
For those on Linux Mint who like to keep multiple kernels around but don't want them to take up too much space, you might be getting a new automated tool.
-
CachyOS Gets an Update
CachyOS August 2026 release is now available with the latest version of KDE, some new features, and plenty of improvements.
-
The Linux Kernel Dev Staging Area Now Rejects AI-Generated Patches
Unless a kernel patch is a valid security fix, it will be rejected if it was created using AI.
-
Linux Surpasses Double-Digit Market Share
According to two sources, the Linux operating system has hit a major milestone in market share that naysayers thought would never happen.
-
AI Helped Develop a Linux Exploit
A use-after-free race exploit was discovered and exploited on CentOS Stream 9.
-
Yet Another Linux Kernel Vulnerability Discovered
Affecting millions of systems, a kernel flaw discovered by Qualys could allow users to gain root privileges.
-
Ubuntu 26.10 to Include Ubuntu Certified Hardware Check
If you've ever wondered if your laptop or PC is officially certified to run Ubuntu, that curiosity will soon be met.
-
Substantial Update to IPFire Now Available
The lastest version of IPFire features a fundamental change to how the system handles DNS.