Re:How to Build an Evil Compiler
by mindslight on Monday April 18, 2022 @07:35PM
(#31078097)
> How do you know the other compiler is "clean"?
You assert that the other compiler won't contain the exact same backdoor, not that it contains no backdoor.
> different compilers could produce different, equally valid instructions, such as debug vs. release builds
The binaries you're comparing are output by two instances of the same compiler codebase (each instance created by a different compiler). So as long as that compiler is deterministic, each run should have the exact same output.
You assert that the other compiler won't contain the exact same backdoor, not that it contains no backdoor.
> different compilers could produce different, equally valid instructions, such as debug vs. release builds
The binaries you're comparing are output by two instances of the same compiler codebase (each instance created by a different compiler). So as long as that compiler is deterministic, each run should have the exact same output.