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Keep in mind that compilers can be backdoored to install malicious code. Bitwise/signature equivalency does not imply malware-free software.
by russfink 2y ago
Keep in mind that compilers can be backdoored to install malicious code. Bitwise/signature equivalency does not imply malware-free software.
- bluGill 2y agoTrue, but every step we add makes the others harder too. It is unlikely Ken Thompson's "trusting trust" compiler would detect modern gcc, much less successfully introduce the backdoor. Even if you start with a compromised gcc of that type there is a good chance that after a few years it would be caught when the latest gcc fails to build anymore for someone with the compromised compiler. (now add clang and people using that...) We may never reach perfection, but the more steps we make in that direction the more likely it is we reach a point where we are impossible to compromise in the real world.
- jt2190 2y agoIn this attack, the compiler is not a reproducible artifact? Or does backdooring use another technique?
- kpcyrd 2y agoTheir point is that you'd need something like https://bootstrappable.org/ https://bootstrappable.org/ (which does exist).