The Linux Backdoor Attempt of 2003 (2013)

This is an obvious backdoor attempt, as the code doesn't make sense otherwise. Yet, the attempt was far too unsubtle and underspecific for agencies such as the NSA. The payoff was low compared to the possibilities - local privilege escalations were a dime-a-dozen. Worse, agencies such as the NSA have two missions: offence and defence. Adding in backdoors helps the offensive mission, but hurts the defensive mission, so it only makes sense if the backdoor isn't so easy to find…

I have the full story on that incident. It is actually really funny. If the guy who did it wants to come forward, that is his decision. [edit: I won't name names.] He did provided me the full story. He told me with the understanding that the story would go public, so I will dig it up and post it. I also interviewed the sysadmins who were running the box at the time. 1. it was not an NSA operation…

"But the attempt didn’t work, because the Linux team was careful enough to notice that that this code was in the CVS repository without having gone through the normal approval process. Score one for Linux." Actually, they were just lucky enough that someone wasn't able to break into the main BitKeeper repository. It is highly unlikely that any private organization could withstand a state sponsored intrusion from the likes of the US, Russia, or China. And that's assuming they needed…