Re:Running the "Reflections on Trusting Trust" Compiler
by rocqua on Saturday October 28, 2023 @09:16AM
(#38049548)
It really limits the value of a stolen or leaked key. Similarly it limits the amount of trust you need in the key holder.
If the NSA could steal a debian key (or coerce a packager), without deterministic builds, they could put a backdoor in a popular Debian package with barely any chance of getting caught.
Deterministic builds make it much easier to detect this. That makes the value of such a stolen/coerced key much lower. Making it much less likely this gets attempted, and likely stopping anyone who used to try this attack.
If the NSA could steal a debian key (or coerce a packager), without deterministic builds, they could put a backdoor in a popular Debian package with barely any chance of getting caught.
Deterministic builds make it much easier to detect this. That makes the value of such a stolen/coerced key much lower. Making it much less likely this gets attempted, and likely stopping anyone who used to try this attack.