Re:A minimal C compiler in x86 assembly
by d33 on Tuesday May 03, 2022 @08:16AM
(#31247359)
Not sure if it would work, but wouldn't it greatly complicate creating a backdoor when the host's memory is very heavily constrainted? e.g. an AVR-based "computer" that would hardly do much more than actually translate assembly to machine code?
[ Parent
| on HN ]
It would probably be easier to detect, but when Thompson deployed the attack in practice, nobody noticed, even though the PDP-11 address space was the same size as an AVR's, and the CPU was a lot slower. (AVRs invariably have much less physical RAM installed than a PDP-11, but you'd need some external memory to get a C compiler to build.)
Re:A minimal C compiler in x86 assembly
by colejohnson66 on Tuesday May 03, 2022 @09:57AM
(#31248372)
Another Ken Thompson style hack, but on an AT&T 3B2: https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-coders-worst-nightmare/answe...