this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2024
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The only real downside on the open source side is that the fix is also public, and thus the recipe how to exploit the backdoor.
If there's a massive CVE on a closed source system, you get a super high-level description of the issue and that's it.
If there's one on an open source system, you get ready-made "proof of concepts" on github that any script kiddy can exploit.
And since not every software can be updated instantly, you are left with millions of vulnerable servers/PCs and a lot of happy script kiddies.
See, for example, Log4Shell.
If your security relies on hidden information then it's at risk of being broken at any time by someone who will find the information in some way. Open source security is so much stronger because it works independently of system knowledge. See all the open source cryptography that secures the web for example.
Open source poc and fix increases awareness of issues and helps everyone to make progress. You will also get much more eyes to verify your analysis and fix, as well as people checking if there could other consequences in other systems. Some security specialists are probably going to create techniques to detect this kind of sophisticated attack in the future.
This doesn't happen with closed source.
If some system company/administrator is too lazy to update, the fault is on them, not on the person who made all the information available for your to understand and fix the issue.
If the vulnerability is in the wild, what other security mechanisms do you have until it's patched?
In this case, downgrading to the not affected version. If there's no possible downgrade, stopping the compromised system until it is fixed.
Keeping the vulnerable system up because you think nobody else should know is a bet, I don't think it's sound. State actors are investing a lot to find and exploit those vulnerabilities, in this case probably even funded the implementation of the vulnerability, so I think you should assume that any vulnerability you discover is already used.