Does anyone else manually review PKGBUILDs before installing or upgrading anything from the AUR?
I do, but not as closely or as often as I should. Recent malware is a reminder to be careful, I think I was starting to take the AUR for granted as a repo when really it’s still the Wild West.
Sort of, but I don’t know what I’m looking for. It would be nice if folks explained what a bad one looks like.
Look for comments that say “# THIS IS MALWARE”
I determine within the PKGBUILD (which I view from octopi) the URLs where code or binaries are downloaded from and then if those URLs seem trustworthy, e.g. how many stars or maintainers the github repo has. When the repo is small and doesn’t qualify for the latter criterias, I do a git clone and skim over the sources on the lookout for malicious URLs or strange code (never found anything in that regard). Also search for the package on https://aur.archlinux.org/ and look if other users have anything to say and how many votes it has.
Is the PKGBUILD file the main source of truth? Like does every other file and URL it accesses get mentioned somewhere explicitly in there? (perhaps transitively)
Also with paru. I mainly check that the download shows the correct URL and does standard stuff with it.
Yes, always!
at the risk of getting down voted I wonder if an LLM would spot it
I smell something fishy going on. I’ve been using the AUR for a long time and I’m now just hearing of malware?
There’s been malware in the past, not only that - AUR is user submitted. It’s in the name. They warn you to double check what you’re installing. It is functionally similar to running a random installer you found on GitHub.
It seems like these instances are being intentionally blown out of proportion, but I don’t see what there is to gain by doing that.
It is functionally similar to running a random installer you found
So basically how Windows users have been acquiring their software for the last 30 years.
I don’t want to say stupid things, but I have so many theories. I check the shit out of a package before installing it. I even go to the GitHub page and make sure of things.
The AUR is made up of user packages
It isn’t crazy that malware made it in. It is very much a “user at your own risk.” Packages are reviewed but sometimes things slip in.
It’s an obvious vector for malware, arch by default doesn’t come with it, and users have been warned the entire time to check pkgbuild. There’s nothing fishy, it’s just that arch has enough users to be worth it to hit it.
I expect that with SteamOS being based on Arch there will be a bigger target on Arch for malware just from increased attention on the platform
I’ve been using Debian for years and prefer deb based systems, but recently I messed a bit around with Manjaro, and the amount of packages only available from the AUR is, erm, remarkable.
At risk of repeating myself from another comment here: you can access the AUR from other distros by making an Arch distrobox. It’s actually super easy.
So, you can install malware on other distros from the AUR?
Usually if the software I want is not on debian’s repos, I’ll try to get the source and compile it, or last resort, use an appimage. I’m not really fond of mixing different installation methods coming from different distros, but… it’s good to know.
I use NixOS so everything is second party
And every package is added and maintained by volunteers.
We’re called maintainers
Most maintainers are volunteers, but not all volunteers are maintainers…
Besides the obvious non-package work, if you make a single pr for some random package and never again, you’re not a maintainer.
The Nix ecosystem is developed by many volunteers and a few paid developers, maintaining one of the largest open source software distributions in the world.
demanding work that we cannot expect to be done by volunteers indefinitely.
If you add yourself to the maintainer list in your PR you’re a maintainer, even if it’s a maintainer of a single package
Aur is probably the main reason why many people use Arch and derivatives. However, many users are unaware that aur is not an official Arch repository and that, as you say, you are the one who has to monitor the pkgbuilds of each installed aur package. Normally the most used aur packages tend to generate more confidence but that does not prevent that package to include malicious software in a version change and having root access to the system can take control of certain system services. That’s why I always recommend not using Aur and that’s why I’ve always found Manjaro to be a great distribution, as it retains packages for a few days to check them and discourages the use of aur. Any security measure is too little and that’s why any security tool you can configure is advisable. In a rolling distribution where new code is constantly entering the system, it is essential to have selinux and secureboot enabled.
Aur is probably the main reason why many people use Arch and derivatives.
FYI, non-Arch distros can use AUR with an Arch distrobox. So people shouldn’t be using Arch just for AUR.
Being in a distrobox may or may not protect your system from potential malware, that I cannot say.
It used to be my reason too, but after breaking my system by my own hand many times, I realized the aur isn’t worth the effort, for me at least.
I’d rather build from source, for software that isn’t maintained in the repos.
Is this post intended to be a sort of outcry around the idea that there’s a risk of malware being in the AUR?
By user “Forsen on top” fucking KEK
Also yeah it’s chrome, obviously it’s malware
Malware in some user-made package on the internet?
Meanwhile me who using CHAOTIC-AUR be like :
Idk I love the aur, just check comments and dont grab whatever the fk you see, I also have flatpak support tho (uninstalled snap, felt like I wanted all options but it was mostly useless, id pick an appimage over snap for the one or two things not on flathub/aur) Nothing popular like rexuiz was on the snap store but also had an appimage.
Was there for 2 days before it was caught and they would of had to be manually installed?
I think that’s much safer than any other platform I’ve heard of
