Open Source Security

Josh and Kurt talk about a lot of security vulnerabilities in this month's Patch Tuesday. There's also a new Git vulnerability. This sparks the age old question of how fast to patch? The answer isn't binary, the right answer is whatever works best for you, not what someone tells you is best.

• Patch Tuesday
• Git security update

Josh and Kurt talk about hackers using emergency data requests to gain access to sensitive data. The argument that somehow backdoors can be protected falls under this problem. We don't yet have the technical or policy protections in place to actually protect this data. We also explain why this zlib issue got a 2018 CVE ID in 2022.

• Hackers using fake emergency data requests
• CVE-2018-25032
• Global Security Database

Josh and Kurt talk about the binary nature of security. Many of our ideas are yes or no, there's not much in the middle. The conversation ends up derailed due to a Twitter thread about pinning dependencies. This gives you an idea how contentious of a topic pinning is. The final takeaway is not to let security turn into your identity, it ends up making a mess.

• Josh's Twitter thread
• How to install week old npm packages

Josh and Kurt talk about the latest NPM backdoored package. It feels like this keeps happening. We talk about why this is and why it's probably OK. Kurt fixes Linus' Law, in open source the superpower isn't bugs are shallow (they're not), the superpower is security bugs in open source can't be ignored.

• node-ipc protestware

Josh and Kurt talk about Microsoft accidentally letting us find out about ads in file explorer. Changing your clocks sucks. And touch on some of the security implications of the Russian invasion and sanctions. There are a lot of security lessons we can all learn. Mostly what not to do.

• Ads in Windows Filemanager
• Russia running out of storage
• Russia threatens to nationalize industry
• Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant
• Cockcroft's Follies
• German government advises citizens to uninstall Kaspersky

Josh and Kurt talk about the Linux Kernel Dirty Pipe security vulnerability. This bug is an amazing combination of amazing complexity, incredible simplicity, and a little bit of luck. The discovery is amazing, the analysis is enlightening. There's almost no way a bug like this could be found outside of open source.

• Dirty Pipe Writeup

Josh and Kurt talk about the challenges of security at scale. Specifically we focus on why a lot of security starts to fall apart once you have to do something more than a few times. There's a lot of new thinking we need to push security forward.

• Stable Linux Kernel and Machine Learning

Josh and Kurt talk about SBOMs. Not what they are, there's plenty about that. We talk about why everyone keeps claiming they're super important, and why we're starting to see some people question if we really need them. SBOMs are part of a future that's still being invented.

• Questioning SBOMs
• Rezilion Log4j diagram
• David A Wheeler on CII Badges
• Using open source is communism

Josh and Kurt talk about the Coinbase Super Bowl ad. It was a QR code, lots of security people were aghast at how many people scanned the QR code. The reality is scanning QR codes isn't dangerous. What other security advice just won't go away?

• Coinbase Ad
• Kurt's Twitter question
• QR code parking scam
• Mossad or not Mossad
• Kurt's talk

Josh and Kurt talk to Hayley Tsukayama from the EFF about privacy. We all know privacy in the modern age is very complicated and difficult. Normal people don't have many allies when it comes to privacy. The EFF has been blazing the trail for digital rights for more than 30 years! This episode has a ton of amazing details, it's easy to see how the EFF became the jewel of the Internet.

• Hayley's Twitter
• EFF
• How to Fix the Internet
• Episode 277 – Privacy and activism with Chris Weiland
• Washington State privacy bill
• Join the EFF (seriously, do this!)