[adql]

> Agreed, as a developer: minimize your dependencies while providing your core function. Don't grant dependencies permissions they don't need. Be granular about it. Austral lets you select what filesystem, network, etc. access each library gets.

Still wouldn't help for this particular exploit.

[galangalalgol]

If systemd could deny liblzma any syacall or filesystem access, that would have prevented it. It is only used to compress a data stream, it only needs read access from one buffer, and write access to another. I realize there is no current mechanism for these granular permissions, that is what I was proposing be addressed.

[saagarjha]

We don't have the way to apply any restrictions on a per-library basis. This is generally quite difficult to do.

[pdimitar]

I know. That's what's missing from our current technology. I am honestly tired of everyone collectively pretending this is not a problem. Periodically we get very grim reminders that it's in fact a problem, everyone pretends to care for a month then it's all back to where it was.

It's depressing. (And no, this comment does not imply you are such. I am responding + ranting.)

[saagarjha]

I suspect most of your frustration comes from reading "we don't think this is a good place to spend our effort" as "there are no problems here".

[pdimitar]

Likely. Though people not seeing the problem is quite frustrating by itself.

[berkes]

In a way it would.

If a software project has hundreds of dependencies, finding that one that was compromised is hard, impossible even. But if it has three dependencies (that aide in the core functionality) keeping a keen eye on them is much easier.

When I look at a typical `node_modules` or `pipenv` directory, I see there's absolutely no way I can vet that all is safe in there. When I look at my typical cargo tree, the four or five dependencies (of dependencies) are doable to just go over every so often.

Automation helps. But that doesn't give me the confidence that just opening the project pages of the stuff that I use, once every few months does for me.

[pdimitar]

Since I didn't keep as current as I wanted to be (work and life happen a lot lately), what could have prevented it?