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fix: format blog

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Anton Livaja 2024-04-23 11:56:59 -04:00
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_posts/2024-03-28-introducing-distrust.md → _posts/2024-03-28-determinism.md
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When a compiler is used to compile some piece of software how do we verify that the compiler can be trusted? Is it well known who compiled the compiler itself? Usually compilers are not built from source, and even when they are, they are seeded from a binary that itself is opaque and difficult to verify. So how does one check if the supply chain integrity of the compiler itself is in tact, even before we get to building software with it? Compiler supply chains are obscured and at many points seeded from binaries, so that it becomes nearly impossible to verify their integrity. In 1984, Ken Thompson wrote ["Reflections on Trusting Trust"](https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rdriley/487/papers/Thompson_1984_ReflectionsonTrustingTrust.pdf) and illustrated that a compiler can modify software during the compilation process in order to compromise the software. Put simply, this means that reviewing the source code is not enough. We need to be sure that the compiler itself isn't compromised as it could be used to modify the intended behavior of the software. When a compiler is used to compile some piece of software how do we verify that the compiler can be trusted? Is it well known who compiled the compiler itself? Usually compilers are not built from source, and even when they are, they are seeded from a binary that itself is opaque and difficult to verify. So how does one check if the supply chain integrity of the compiler itself is in tact, even before we get to building software with it?
Compiler supply chains are obscured and at many points seeded from binaries, so that it becomes nearly impossible to verify their integrity. In 1984, Ken Thompson wrote ["Reflections on Trusting Trust"](https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rdriley/487/papers/Thompson_1984_ReflectionsonTrustingTrust.pdf) and illustrated that a compiler can modify software during the compilation process in order to compromise the software. Put simply, this means that reviewing the source code is not enough. We need to be sure that the compiler itself isn't compromised as it could be used to modify the intended behavior of the software.
What about the software that's built using the compiler? Has the source code been modified during compilation? Has the resulting binary of the software been tampered with, perhaps in the CI/CD runner which runs an OS with a vulnerability in one of its sub dependencies, or perhaps the server host has been compromised and attackers have gained control of the infrastructure? These are difficult software supply chain security issues which are often swept under the rug, or completely overlooked due to lack of understanding. The bottom line is that in order to eliminate this surface area of attack, we need a good answer to these questions, and more importantly we need tooling and practical methods which can help close these gaps in the supply chain. What about the software that's built using the compiler? Has the source code been modified during compilation? Has the resulting binary of the software been tampered with, perhaps in the CI/CD runner which runs an OS with a vulnerability in one of its sub dependencies, or perhaps the server host has been compromised and attackers have gained control of the infrastructure? These are difficult software supply chain security issues which are often swept under the rug, or completely overlooked due to lack of understanding. The bottom line is that in order to eliminate this surface area of attack, we need a good answer to these questions, and more importantly we need tooling and practical methods which can help close these gaps in the supply chain.
This line of questioning becomes especially concerning in the context of widely used software such as images pulled from DockerHub, package managers, and Linux distributions. Software procured via these channels are used widely, and are pervasive in almost all software and as such pose a severe attack vector. If the maintainer of a widely used DockerHub image has their machine compromised, or are coerced or even forced under duress to insert malicious code into the binaries they are responsible for in most cases there is no effective measure in place to detect and catch this which can result in millions of downstream consumers being impacted. Imagine what would happen if the maintainer of a default DockerHub image of a widely used language was compromised, and the binary they released had a backdoor in it. The implications are extremely far reaching, and would be disastrous. This line of questioning becomes especially concerning in the context of widely used software such as images pulled from DockerHub, package managers, and Linux distributions. Software procured via these channels are used widely, and are pervasive in almost all software and as such pose a severe attack vector. If the maintainer of a widely used DockerHub image has their machine compromised, or are coerced or even forced under duress to insert malicious code into the binaries they are responsible for in most cases there is no effective measure in place to detect and catch this which can result in millions of downstream consumers being impacted. Imagine what would happen if the maintainer of a default DockerHub image of a widely used language was compromised, and the binary they released had a backdoor in it. The implications are extremely far reaching, and would be disastrous.
There are two distinct problems at hand which share a solution: There are two distinct problems at hand which share a solution:
1. How do we ensure that we can trust the toolchain used to build software 1. How do we ensure that we can trust the toolchain used to build software
2. How do we ensure that we can trust software built with the toolchain 2. How do we ensure that we can trust software built with the toolchain