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Secure Boot is completely broken on 200+ models from 5 big device makers
by Peter Reutemann 26 Jul '24

26 Jul '24

'On Thursday, researchers from security firm Binarly revealed that Secure Boot is completely compromised on more than 200 device models sold by Acer, Dell, Gigabyte, Intel, and Supermicro. The cause: a cryptographic key underpinning Secure Boot on those models that was compromised in 2022. In a public GitHub repository committed in December of that year, someone working for multiple US-based device manufacturers published what’s known as a platform key, the cryptographic key that forms the root-of-trust anchor between the hardware device and the firmware that runs on it. The repository was located at https://github.com/raywu-aaeon/Ryzen2000_4000.git, and it's not clear when it was taken down. The repository included the private portion of the platform key in encrypted form. The encrypted file, however, was protected by a four-character password, a decision that made it trivial for Binarly, and anyone else with even a passing curiosity, to crack the passcode and retrieve the corresponding plain text. The disclosure of the key went largely unnoticed until January 2023, when Binarly researchers found it while investigating a supply-chain incident. Now that the leak has come to light, security experts say it effectively torpedoes the security assurances offered by Secure Boot. “It’s a big problem,” said Martin Smolár, a malware analyst specializing in rootkits who reviewed the Binarly research and spoke to me about it. “It’s basically an unlimited Secure Boot bypass for these devices that use this platform key. So until device manufacturers or OEMs provide firmware updates, anyone can basically… execute any malware or untrusted code during system boot. Of course, privileged access is required, but that’s not a problem in many cases.”' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/07/secure-boot-is-completely-compromi… Cheers, Peter

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distrobox
by Peter Reutemann 26 Jul '24

26 Jul '24

Just came across distrobox, which seems a useful extension to container managers like docker/podman/lilipod, allowing you to run other distros in your shell: 'Use any Linux distribution inside your terminal. Enable both backward and forward compatibility with software and freedom to use whatever distribution you’re more comfortable with. Distrobox uses podman, docker or lilipod to create containers using the Linux distribution of your choice. The created container will be tightly integrated with the host, allowing sharing of the HOME directory of the user, external storage, external USB devices and graphical apps (X11/Wayland), and audio.' -- source: https://distrobox.it/ That should be especially useful for people working in environments where they are forced to use a specific host OS. As long as they have one of the supported container managers available, they can easily switch! Cheers, Peter

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Anyone can Access Deleted and Private Repository Data on GitHub
by Peter Reutemann 26 Jul '24

26 Jul '24

'You can access data from deleted forks, deleted repositories and even private repositories on GitHub. And it is available forever. This is known by GitHub, and intentionally designed that way. This is such an enormous attack vector for all organizations that use GitHub that we’re introducing a new term: Cross Fork Object Reference (CFOR). A CFOR vulnerability occurs when one repository fork can access sensitive data from another fork (including data from private and deleted forks). Similar to an Insecure Direct Object Reference, in CFOR users supply commit hashes to directly access commit data that otherwise would not be visible to them. ' -- source: https://trufflesecurity.com/blog/anyone-can-access-deleted-and-private-repo… Interesting read! Cheers, Peter

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Run0 vs Sudo: What’s the Difference?
by Peter Reutemann 25 Jul '24

25 Jul '24

'Run0 is a new privilege escalation program for Systemd-based Linux systems. Similar to sudo, it allows you to run commands as a root user and access your machine’s internals. In this article, we compare Run0 vs Sudo to help you determine the right privilege escalation tool for you.' -- source: https://www.maketecheasier.com/run0-vs-sudo-whats-the-difference/ Honestly, I only came across Run0 the other day. I still remember the days of using "su" to get stuff done, long before sudo. Is anyone using Run0? What are your experiences? Cheers, Peter

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It Never Rains But It Pours
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 24 Jul '24

24 Jul '24

Instructive to read this notice <https://rimuhosting.com/maintenance.jsp?server_maint_oid=5241959612&sn_oid=…> about progress in fixing an issue in the Dallas co-lo centre for Rimu hosting. As a customer, I wasn’t affected (though I could have been), and I have no complaints with the way this was handled--it was great that they kept customers like me apprised of developments like this. The interesting part is how a single initial failure can lead to a cascade of other failures. From the description, the original problem was a breakdown of a transformer feeding power from the grid. To allow it to be repaired, the power was switched to a backup generator. The generator then shut down with a belt problem. So power went to UPS batteries. These ran flat before the generator could be brought back to operation. So various parts of the facility were left without power. After power was restored, it was discovered that some (network?) switches had failed to come up. So a bunch of physical boxes holding customers’ VMs had to be physically moved to a different location where they could get connectivity again. From that point, the disruption was (mostly) over as far as customers were concerned, though there was obviously still work to be done to get the infrastructure back to its normal state. I think that a lot of theoretical statistical modelling of the odds of system failures tends to assume that failures of individual components will be independent of each other. Yet time and time again in the real world, we discover that this is not the case.

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Switzerland Now Requires All Government Software To Be Open Source
by Peter Reutemann 24 Jul '24

24 Jul '24

'Switzerland has enacted the "Federal Law on the Use of Electronic Means for the Fulfillment of Government Tasks" (EMBAG), mandating open-source software (OSS) in the public sector to enhance transparency, security, and efficiency. "This new law requires all public bodies to disclose the source code of software developed by or for them unless third-party rights or security concerns prevent it," writes ZDNet's Steven Vaughan-Nichols. "This 'public money, public code' approach aims to enhance government operations' transparency, security, and efficiency." From the report: Making this move wasn't easy. It began in 2011 when the Swiss Federal Supreme Court published its court application, Open Justitia, under an OSS license. The proprietary legal software company Weblaw wasn't happy about this. There were heated political and legal fights for more than a decade. Finally, the EMBAG was passed in 2023. Now, the law not only allows the release of OSS by the Swiss government or its contractors, but also requires the code to be released under an open-source license "unless the rights of third parties or security-related reasons would exclude or restrict this." Professor Dr. Matthias Sturmer, head of the Institute for Public Sector Transformation at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, led the fight for this law. He hailed it as "a great opportunity for government, the IT industry, and society." Sturmer believes everyone will benefit from this regulation, as it reduces vendor lock-in for the public sector, allows companies to expand their digital business solutions, and potentially leads to reduced IT costs and improved services for taxpayers. In addition to mandating OSS, the EMBAG also requires the release of non-personal and non-security-sensitive government data as Open Government Data (OGD). This dual "open by default" approach marks a significant paradigm shift towards greater openness and practical reuse of software and data. Implementing the EMBAG is expected to serve as a model for other countries considering similar measures. It aims to promote digital sovereignty and encourage innovation and collaboration within the public sector. The Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS) is leading the law's implementation, but the organizational and financial aspects of the OSS releases still need to be clarified. ' -- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/07/23/2025220 Cheers, Peter

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Linux Mint 22 “Wilma” Is Now Available for Download, Here’s What’s New
by Peter Reutemann 24 Jul '24

24 Jul '24

'Linux Mint 22 is now available for download as the latest stable release of this popular Ubuntu-based operating system for the masses featuring the Cinnamon, Xfce, and MATE desktop environments. Dubbed “Wilma”, Linux Mint 22 is based on the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) operating system series and uses the Linux 6.8 kernel. It will receive security updates until 2029 and new kernel versions as they’re available upstream in the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS repositories. The flagship edition features the latest Cinnamon 6.2 desktop environment while the Xfce and MATE editions ship with the Xfce 4.18 and MATE 1.26 desktop environments. The Wayland session in the Cinnamon edition is still in an experimental state and Linux Mint 22 Cinnamon will default to X11. Linux Mint 22 comes with PipeWire as the default sound server, support for the new Debian DEB822 format, GTK4 support for themes, improved HiDPI support during boot, better language support, artwork improvements, and FAT32 in File System Transposition mode support for the ISO images. Software-wise, Linux Mint 22 features the Mozilla Thunderbird email client as a native DEB package, a new GNOME Online Accounts GTK independent XApp to support the Online Accounts functionality, and a new Web App called Matrix, which is preinstalled by default and connects you to the Matrix chat network. Furthermore, it features JXL (JPEG-XL) image support in the Pix image viewer, a confirmation dialog pop-up when deleting a snapshot in the Timeshift backup tool, the ability to configure the default position of newly created notes in the Sticky note-taking app, and support for the Xed text editor to duplicate selected text. It also disables unverified Flatpak apps by default in the Software Manager app, which received some welcome changes like improved multi-threading, a new preferences page, and a banner slideshow. In addition, Software Manager now loads faster than before and the main window appears instantly. On top of that, Linux Mint 22 comes with a new package called xapp-thumbnailer-gimp that provides a thumbnailer for GIMP (.xcf) files and an updated xfce4-xapp-status-plugin tray applet that lets you configure icon sizes for full-color and symbolic icons.' -- source: https://9to5linux.com/linux-mint-22-wilma-is-now-available-for-download-her… Cheers, Peter

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Apache Software Foundation is Retiring its Feather Logo
by Peter Reutemann 23 Jul '24

23 Jul '24

'The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) has announced plans to evolve its corporate logo and brand system to better represent its "community over code" ethos and promote inclusivity. Why? Because the ASF took seriously concerns raised by Natives in Tech and other members of the open-source community regarding the appropriateness of using Indigenous imagery. So, the ASF will retire its iconic feather logo, which has been a central part of the foundation's identity since 1999. The organization acknowledges that, as a non-Indigenous entity, it is inappropriate to continue using Indigenous themes or language in its branding. The group also realizes that the logo has been very popular for almost 30 years, but they feel this is the right thing to do. This comes after ASF changed the name of its flagship event to Community Over Code from ApacheCon. The ASF's Marketing and publicity team, along with a Branding Steering Committee composed of ASF Members, is collaborating with branding and design vendors to develop a new logo. This new visual identity will embody the Foundation's history of providing software for the public good while reflecting its global contributor base. The decision to update the brand extends beyond the logo. Changes also apply to ASF open-source projects that currently use Indigenous imagery. It will not--I and the ASF repeat--not change the Apache License or any released software. ' -- source: https://opensourcewatch.beehiiv.com/p/apache-software-foundation-retiring-f… Cheers, Peter

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Imperfect, Linux-powered, DIY smart TV is the embodiment of ad fatigue
by Peter Reutemann 23 Jul '24

23 Jul '24

'Smart TV owners have been subjected to a growing amount of ads and tracking. Ad fatigue, only worsened by a trend that sees streaming providers trying to force customers into subscriptions with commercials, is understandable. We’re at the point where someone would rather use a broken laptop dangling off a TV than be subjected to the watchful eye of the TV's native operating system. Earlier this month, as spotted by Tom’s Hardware, a blogger named Carl Riis, who says he’s a software engineer, shared his DIY project, a Linux-based “smart TV.” Riis’ project doesn’t stand out because it’s the most unique, clever, or clean. In fact, if you’re the type of person willing to pay a lot for TVs with strong aesthetic appeal, like TVs that can look like artwork or appear transparent, you’ll be put off by the EarlGreyTV. The system uses an old Lenovo laptop that has a broken keyboard and is attached to a TV by a string. As Riis wrote: “This may look a little insane, but it has been a great way to keep things neat while retaining access to the laptop."' -- source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/07/broken-linux-laptop-makes-for-a-fin… Cheers, Peter

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Microsoft: Linux Is the Top Operating System on Azure Today
by Peter Reutemann 23 Jul '24

23 Jul '24

'Azure used to be a cloud platform dedicated to Windows. Now, it's the most widely used operating system on Microsoft Azure. The New Stack's Joab Jackson writes: These days, Microsoft expends considerable effort that Linux runs as smoothly as possible on Azure, according to a talk given earlier this year at the Linux Foundation Open Source Summit given by two Microsoft Azure Linux Platforms Group program managers, Jack Aboutboul, and Krum Kashan. "Linux is the #1 operating system in Azure today," Aboutoul said. And all must be supported in a way that Microsoft users have come to expects. Hence, the need for the Microsoft's Linux Platforms Group, which provides support Linux to both the internal customers and to Azure customers. These days, the duo of engineers explained, Microsoft knows about as much as anyone about how to operate Linux at hyperscale. [...] As of today, there are hundreds of Azure and Azure-based services running on Linux, including the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), OpenAI, HDInsight, and many of the other database services. "A lot of the infrastructure powering everything else is running on Linux," Aboutoul said. "They're different flavors of Linux running all over the place," Aboutoul said. To run these services, Microsoft maintains its own kernel, Azure Linux, and in 2023 the company released its own version of Linux, Azure Linux. But Azure Linux is just a small portion of all the other flavors of Linux running on Azure, all of which Microsoft must work with to support. Overall, there are about 20,000 third-party Software as a Service (SaaS) packages in the Azure marketplace that rely on some Linux distribution. And when things go wrong, it is the Azure service engineers who get the help tickets. The company keeps a set of endorsed Linux distributions, which include Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Debian, Flatcar, Suse, Canonical, and Oracle Linux and CentOS (as managed by OpenLogic, not Red Hat). [...] Overall, the company gets about 1,000 images a month from these endorsed partners alone. Many of the distributions have multiple images (Suse has a regular one, and another one for high-performance computing, for instance). ' -- source: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/24/07/22/2157209 Cheers, Peter

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