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University Banned From Contributing To Linux Kernel For Intentionally Inserting Bugs
PHORONIX ^ | 21 April 2021 | Michael Larabel

Posted on 04/21/2021 5:41:17 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT

Stemming from this research paper where researchers from the University of Minnesota intentionally worked to stealthy introduce vulnerabilities into the mainline Linux kernel. They intentionally introduced use-after-free bugs into the kernel covertly for their research paper.

So those from the University of Minnesota are no longer welcome to contribute to the upstream Linux kernel development.

(Excerpt) Read more at phoronix.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: linux
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I'm just a user, mostly of Ubuntu since Jaunty Jackalope, about 12 years.

This is interesting and the comments are surprising.

The LINUX community has always been helpful when I post a question. My guru is a sure bet for a Burn voter, we never discuss politics.

This will be fun to follow.

1 posted on 04/21/2021 5:41:17 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
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To: DUMBGRUNT

What is it about Minnesota these days?


2 posted on 04/21/2021 5:42:52 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: DUMBGRUNT; rdb3; JosephW; martin_fierro; Still Thinking; zeugma; Vinnie; ironman; Egon; raybbr; ...

3 posted on 04/21/2021 5:46:31 PM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack )
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To: ShadowAce

Ah...Penguin Publishing. /sarc


4 posted on 04/21/2021 5:48:48 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not Averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Was it a closed experiment or did they get it out in the community?

I would think Linux would welcome an attack that exposed a vulnerability.


5 posted on 04/21/2021 5:50:05 PM PDT by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults. )
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Reading the comments helped explain the article better. Makes you wonder what these commenters would think of an American researcher who funded a Chinese lab which developed a virus that locked down the entire world?


6 posted on 04/21/2021 5:51:02 PM PDT by Bernard (“When once the guardian angel has taken flight, everything is lost”. – William H. Seward, 1/12/1861)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

From the comments, one of the researchers was Chinese


7 posted on 04/21/2021 5:53:20 PM PDT by SauronOfMordor (A Leftist can't enjoy life unless they are controlling, hurting, or destroying others)
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To: dfwgator

Minnesota was and is a Wokefied cult state. They had abandoned reality a very long time ago.


8 posted on 04/21/2021 5:54:25 PM PDT by Bayard
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To: Jonty30

I’ve seen the patches that fixed the bugs.

The commit logs did not indicate whether the engineers who found and fixed the bugs knew they were of hostile origin.

The originators should never be allowed near a software development effort.

In fact, they should be permanently barred from any occupation that requires even a miniscule of trust.


9 posted on 04/21/2021 6:01:59 PM PDT by Westbrook
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I like that it was caught and dealt with firmly.


10 posted on 04/21/2021 6:11:22 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

“These new, questionable patches don’t appear to have any real value — for good or bad — and at the very least are just wasting time by upstream developers.”

That’s Windows in a nutshell. Ten of thousands of patches that do nothing but bloat the software.


11 posted on 04/21/2021 6:14:14 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (“Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty.” ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn,)
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To: Westbrook

As you know, the changes must be accepted by the maintainers.


12 posted on 04/21/2021 6:15:15 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: ShadowAce

I’ve always wondered if situations like this happened (or would happen).
This also is why Linux is so dependable... because it’s open source, and someone is going to find the cr@p and fix it.


13 posted on 04/21/2021 6:17:26 PM PDT by Bikkuri (If you're conservative, you're an "extremist." If you're liberal, you're an "activist.")
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To: Gene Eric

Yes, and apparently a few got through.

I’d need to see the original hostile patches to be sure, but I venture the violations were subtly embedded in valid code.


14 posted on 04/21/2021 6:24:15 PM PDT by Westbrook
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To: DUMBGRUNT

I lived in that awful state for ten years. It got to the point where I no longer recognize any educational credentials or professional license from that state.


15 posted on 04/21/2021 6:30:30 PM PDT by Fred Hayek (Antifa=BLM=RevCom=CPUSA = CCP=Democratic Party )
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To: Blood of Tyrants

“....nothing but bloat the software.”

Who needs Easter Eggs in an O/S?


16 posted on 04/21/2021 6:33:08 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: Bikkuri

Yes, when you have many thousands of developers putting effort into a project for free, just for the love of building the OS or software, they tend to care about what they’re building and they also use the same product so they want it to be of high quality and safe.

Apple does it for the high profits.

Microsoft was created by a madman and windows is trying to compete with google as far as personal data collection these days, plus MS has a monopoly so they’re not required to give a damn to keep their customers.


17 posted on 04/21/2021 6:51:13 PM PDT by Pollard ( )
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To: dfwgator

It has become a blue turd state.


18 posted on 04/21/2021 6:54:17 PM PDT by NWFree (Socialism is legalized plunder)
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To: Westbrook

Do you happen to know the commit(s) that fixed the bugs? And for the convenience, the repo?


19 posted on 04/21/2021 7:17:54 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: Pollard
Yes, when you have many thousands of developers putting effort into a project for free, just for the love of building the OS or software, they tend to care about what they’re building and they also use the same product so they want it to be of high quality and safe.

Lots of people who build malware do it for the love of building malware.

20 posted on 04/21/2021 7:26:23 PM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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