this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2026
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how did this happen? the linked thread show people identifying the infected packages and cleaning them up but no word about how it happened or how to prevent it.
I think it was essentially orphaned stuff that got "picked up" by a "new maintainer" and that's how it happened.
oh I saw "clang" in the list of packages and got worried
You're only affected if you use the AUR. As far as I understand it, the core packages themselves are fine, so this is more of a MitM attack, where somebody compromised the package download streams
This is not a MitM attack.
How is it not? They didn't take over the core projects, they took over the midstream distribution.
A MitM attack defines the attack technique, not the target. It's when the target wants to connect to something but it connects through you first, and you forward while collecting/altering data. My question was about the attack used. But yeah, a mass takeover of everything orphaned would do it.