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Trusting the binary is a one-time effort. Here you have to trust the JS everytime you authenticate.
by NewEntryHN 8y ago
Trusting the binary is a one-time effort. Here you have to trust the JS everytime you authenticate.
- fro0116 8y agoFor this use case, authenticating is a one-time effort as well, per browser. If you're authenticating again, you're almost certainly doing it on a different device/browser, at which point you'd have to verify the new browser binary anyways.
- eadmund 8y agoSign-ins to Firefox Accounts (used to access Mozilla services as web pages) don’t expire after some time? I didn’t know that.
- Faark 8y agoEven one-time, comparing the hash of a git commit or an installer is annoying but practically doable. I'd have no idea how to safely do something like this for a website. And I for sure ain't able to audit those ~200kb js by myself.
- IshKebab 8y agoSo you never update Firefox? For most users it automatically updates itself.
- joekrill 8y agoBut my point is you also have to trust that your underlying OS, or chipset, or even some other software on your computer doesn't have some way to thwart the entire effort. If the thing you're using the do your verification is itself compromised, then you're just as screwed.