An attempt to backdoor the kernel [LWN.net]

An attempt to backdoor the kernel

Posted Nov 7, 2003 11:31 UTC (Fri) by rschroev (subscriber, #4164)
In reply to: An attempt to backdoor the kernel by lm
Parent article: An attempt to backdoor the kernel

I think there is a huge difference between problems that arise as a result of conflicting hashes on one side, and not detecting corruption on the other side.

Colliding hashes is a bug in the system, in my view. The system may be "almost good enough", but never "good enough". Detection of errors introduced outside of the system is a nice feature, but it is one I can live without. Lack of the feature is not a bug. The system is effectively "good enough".

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An attempt to backdoor the kernel

Posted Nov 20, 2003 13:30 UTC (Thu) by Wol (guest, #4433) [Link]

Colliding hashes is MATHEMATICALLY INEVITABLE.

It can't, therefore, be a bug.

Being able to generate a file that results in the hash you want, however, most definitely IS a bug, because it is a gaping security hole.

Cheers,
Wol