Package Repository and Integrity
Learn how the integrity of the Debian repositories is secured by a chain of cryptographic signatures.
Debian and its derivatives have an enormous installation base, particularly in the server landscape. An attacker who could sneak malicious code into a Debian package, into either the packaged installation or one of the hook scripts that run at installation time, could gain access to lots of resources and data.
To avoid such attacks, the Debian ecosystem guards the integrity of its packages through well-thought-out processes and a chain of cryptographic signatures.
The chain of trust can be roughly divided into two questions:
- How can an end user know that they are downloading official Debian-packaged software that hasn’t been tampered with?
- How does the Debian project make sure that only legitimate software is uploaded to its repositories?
Integrity from the end user’s perspective
A user wishing to install Debian needs to download it from the official website. The connection to this website is secured through Transport Layer Security.
The browser likely shows a green lock next to the address bar, indicating that the
website visited has been provided by the owner of the domain debian.org and
that the contents ...
