Another reason it didn’t get hit is that the exploit is debian/redhat-specific, checking for files and env variables that just aren’t present when nix builds it. That doesn’t mean that nix couldn’t be targeted, though. Also it’s a bit iffy that replacing the package on unstable took in the order of 10 days which is 99.99% build time because it’s a full rebuild. Much better on stable but it’s not like unstable doesn’t get regular use by people, especially as you can mix+match when running NixOS.
It’s probably a good idea to make a habit of pulling directly from github (generally, VCS). Nix checks hashes all the time so upstream doing a sneak change would break the build, it’s more about the version you’re using being the one that has its version history published. Also: Why not?
Overall, who knows what else is hidden in that code, though. I’ve heard that Debian wants to roll back a whole two years and that’s probably a good idea and in general we should be much more careful about the TCB. Actually have a proper TCB in the first place, which means making it small and simple. Compilers are always going to be an issue as small is not an option there but the likes of http clients, decompressors and the like? Why can they make coffee?
Downloading from github is how NixOS avoided getting hit. On unstable, that is, on stable a tarball gets downloaded (EDIT: fixed links).
Another reason it didn’t get hit is that the exploit is debian/redhat-specific, checking for files and env variables that just aren’t present when nix builds it. That doesn’t mean that nix couldn’t be targeted, though. Also it’s a bit iffy that replacing the package on unstable took in the order of 10 days which is 99.99% build time because it’s a full rebuild. Much better on stable but it’s not like unstable doesn’t get regular use by people, especially as you can mix+match when running NixOS.
It’s probably a good idea to make a habit of pulling directly from github (generally, VCS). Nix checks hashes all the time so upstream doing a sneak change would break the build, it’s more about the version you’re using being the one that has its version history published. Also: Why not?
Overall, who knows what else is hidden in that code, though. I’ve heard that Debian wants to roll back a whole two years and that’s probably a good idea and in general we should be much more careful about the TCB. Actually have a proper TCB in the first place, which means making it small and simple. Compilers are always going to be an issue as small is not an option there but the likes of http clients, decompressors and the like? Why can they make coffee?