I understand that no Operating System is 100% safe. Although this backdoor is likely only affects certain Linux desktop users, particularly those running unstable Debian or testing builds of Fedora (like versions 40 or 41), **Could this be a sign that antivirus software should be more widely used on Linux desktops? ** ( I know this time is a zero-day attack)
What if, malicious code like this isn’t discovered until after it’s released to the public? For example, imagine it was included in the initial release of Fedora 40 in April. What if other malware is already widespread and affects more than just SSH, unlike this specific case?
My point is,
- Many people believe that Linux desktops don’t require antivirus software.
- Antivirus can at least stop malware once it’s discovered.
- Open-source software is protected by many parties, but a backdoor like this one, which reportedly took 2 years to plan and execute, raises my concern about being more cautious when choosing project code maintainers.
- Linux desktops will likely be targeted by more attacks as they become more popular.
IMO, antivirus does not save stupid people(who blindly disable antivirus // grant root permission) but it does save some lazy people.
OS rely heavily on users practicing caution and up-to-date(both knowledge and the system). While many users don’t follow tech news, they could unknowingly be running (this/any) malware without ever knowing. They might also neglect system updates, despite recommendations from distro maintainers.
This is where antivirus software can be useful. In such cases, users might be somewhat protected once the backdoor signature is added to the antivirus database.
Thankfully, the Linux community and Andres Freund responded quickly to this incident.
These are good questions. I hope as a community we can challenge if our assumptions around security are still true without being dogmatic.
No, av would not stop this kind of attack….
ClamAV is used widely though on inbound SFTP shares though in a corporate environment
I dont think av would help with a backdoor, only things like malware, miners, ect. I feel most people that use linux can figure out not to run lil-uzi_leaked-song.mp3.exe
What? Use a bloatware that consumes a lot of resources, slows down the whole system and increases the attack surface instead of regular updates? Are you kidding?
By the way, all Fedora packages are scanned with ClamAV as part of bodhi tests. Here’s the test matrix where xz 5.6.0 passed the scan, and would have allowed the exploit in for the F40 beta if it wasn’t obsoleted by another build where the vulnerability’s mechanism was disabled because it triggered valgrind failures in other software.
Sure, there’s more sophisticated AV software out there, but at the end of the day, the F40 beta was temporarily saved because of luck, the beta freeze period, and valgrind. The ecosystem as a whole was saved because “Jia Tan” wasn’t aware that making Postgres run slightly slower immediately raises alarm bells.
Nope. In Linux the typical action is to immediately get a fix out ASAP and be done with it.
Plus it’s unlikely that AntiVirus would actually make any difference. Even in Windows many things go undetected. All it does is bog down your system
I find all this “bog down your system” answers to be a crock of shit. Go run ESET nod32 and put it in interactive mode. Yes, you’ll get a lot of prompts but damn you’ll learn so much about what’s going on in your computer and the networks it’s reaching out to. If you’re on windows run glass wire or OSX run little snitch. I used to know a Linux alternative for those but the point stands that you should have tools that you can use in a desktop setting to really understand what is running, and what it’s connecting to. You should have a program running that can check against a database of hashes of files for signature matches. It seems though like there’s not strong enough AV. And I suspect that’s on purpose so state actors can easily get into our systems in all nations.
If you’re on windows run glass wire or OSX run little snitch. I used to know a Linux alternative for those
Would you happen to know the name of a similar tool for Linux? I was just yesterday searching myself but I couldn’t find anything
The port of Little Snitch to Linux is called OpenSnitch. I’ve never used Glass Wire, so I have no idea if that’s what you’re looking for.
The maintainer of xz was pressured into adding a new, unknown maintainer because he was alone and most likely unpaid. Had this critical piece of software been well-funded and the maintainer well-compensated, he probably never would’ve added the maintainer.
Regardless, I’m not sure how an antivirus would help here. This was a component upon which many others were built. How would this have been detected heuristically? Maybe somebody with a deeper understanding can also weigh in whether SELinux could’ve helped here, but if it’s a
lib*, I guess not.IMO the major problem is upstream: fund critical components. If you work in an org using opensource (and I bet you do), try and get them to set aside some kind of budget for opensource projects they use. For example a simple 100€ distributed across selected projects every month or every year. Or more, whatever… just something.
Also probably reproducible builds would help. The distributed archives should not differ from that of multiple build services.
