There is no way to definitively say that Ubuntu is “backdoored”. Your post is written like bait but I will explore the concept.
Operating systems like Windows and OSX are one big proprietary mess. These systems you have no idea what they are doing. They do things without even telling you.
Ubuntu is a system built on Free (as in freedom) open source software (FOSS). It is made up of over 1000 software packages. Some of the packages are FOSS, a few of the packages are proprietary. The packages are precompiled binaries based on FOSS code. You do not have to install the proprietary packages.
The proprietary packages which are included in Ubuntu by default are wifi drivers, graphics drivers, cpu firmware. Is it possible that a backdoor is hidden in the wifi driver? Maybe but you don’t have to install those drivers. You could use a FOSS wifi device or simply not use wifi.
So if we have the Ubuntu system and we don’t install the proprietary blobs/drivers. How do we know that the compiled software packages matches the FOSS source code? Well for one, it is illegal under most circumstances to share binaries compiled from FOSS source code without providing the full source code used to compile the software binaries. The GNU project and Free Software Foundation are willing to do litigation against software which violates FOSS licenses.
Let’s assume that the Linux Distro is disregarding the law. There is a software project called Reproducible Builds, which means that if you compile source code on 2 different machines, you will get the same binary files. While distros like Arch and Debian (and not Ubuntu) are members of the Reproducible Builds project, the project is still incomplete and many packages are not compliant.
So let’s say that you don’t trust the Distro developer to compile binaries for you. You can choose to use a GNU/Linux distros such as Gentoo where all of the FOSS packages are in the form of source code and you have to compile them for yourself.
What about non-hidden “backdoors”? Over 10 years ago, Ubuntu introduced a feature which searched Amazon for “products you might be interested in” when you typed into the Unity search bar to search your computer. This feature was removed after community backlash.
What about unintentional vulnerabilities or exploits hidden within the source code? Obfuscated code is not accepted but even then some things have slipped by. In February 2024, a backdoor was added to the XZ Utils, which potentially added a secret key for the attacker to access some systems remotely through OpenSSH. The exploit was discovered and removed in March 2024. The exploit was luckily discovered before it reached most people. I believe most Ubuntu users were not affected by this exploit unless they were using a “testing” version of Ubuntu. Rolling release distros such as Arch Linux were the most affected. For this reason, it is better to use a stable release distro like Debian, which only adds new software features every 2 years.
In 2021, two researchers at the University of Minnesota submitted intentionally buggy code to the Linux Kernel project as part of an experiment to introduce vulnerabilities into Open Source software. 15 days later, the Linux Kernel project banned the entire University of Minnesota from contributing to the Linux Kernel development.
Is it possible that Ubuntu has a backdoor? Maybe, but it is very less likely to have a backdoor than Window or OSX.
I was looking at this page and it would seem that Fedora had once been involved in the project but has maybe abandoned it. It’s been inactive since 2016, but then a Fedora developer tried to reboot their involvement in 2024.
The Reproducible Builds project says that 96.5% of Debian software packages are now made to be reproducible, as well as 88.1% of Arch Linux software packages. This is higher than I had thought.
There is no way to definitively say that Ubuntu is “backdoored”. Your post is written like bait but I will explore the concept.
Operating systems like Windows and OSX are one big proprietary mess. These systems you have no idea what they are doing. They do things without even telling you.
Ubuntu is a system built on Free (as in freedom) open source software (FOSS). It is made up of over 1000 software packages. Some of the packages are FOSS, a few of the packages are proprietary. The packages are precompiled binaries based on FOSS code. You do not have to install the proprietary packages.
The proprietary packages which are included in Ubuntu by default are wifi drivers, graphics drivers, cpu firmware. Is it possible that a backdoor is hidden in the wifi driver? Maybe but you don’t have to install those drivers. You could use a FOSS wifi device or simply not use wifi.
So if we have the Ubuntu system and we don’t install the proprietary blobs/drivers. How do we know that the compiled software packages matches the FOSS source code? Well for one, it is illegal under most circumstances to share binaries compiled from FOSS source code without providing the full source code used to compile the software binaries. The GNU project and Free Software Foundation are willing to do litigation against software which violates FOSS licenses.
Let’s assume that the Linux Distro is disregarding the law. There is a software project called Reproducible Builds, which means that if you compile source code on 2 different machines, you will get the same binary files. While distros like Arch and Debian (and not Ubuntu) are members of the Reproducible Builds project, the project is still incomplete and many packages are not compliant.
So let’s say that you don’t trust the Distro developer to compile binaries for you. You can choose to use a GNU/Linux distros such as Gentoo where all of the FOSS packages are in the form of source code and you have to compile them for yourself.
What about non-hidden “backdoors”? Over 10 years ago, Ubuntu introduced a feature which searched Amazon for “products you might be interested in” when you typed into the Unity search bar to search your computer. This feature was removed after community backlash.
What about unintentional vulnerabilities or exploits hidden within the source code? Obfuscated code is not accepted but even then some things have slipped by. In February 2024, a backdoor was added to the XZ Utils, which potentially added a secret key for the attacker to access some systems remotely through OpenSSH. The exploit was discovered and removed in March 2024. The exploit was luckily discovered before it reached most people. I believe most Ubuntu users were not affected by this exploit unless they were using a “testing” version of Ubuntu. Rolling release distros such as Arch Linux were the most affected. For this reason, it is better to use a stable release distro like Debian, which only adds new software features every 2 years.
In 2021, two researchers at the University of Minnesota submitted intentionally buggy code to the Linux Kernel project as part of an experiment to introduce vulnerabilities into Open Source software. 15 days later, the Linux Kernel project banned the entire University of Minnesota from contributing to the Linux Kernel development.
Is it possible that Ubuntu has a backdoor? Maybe, but it is very less likely to have a backdoor than Window or OSX.
It’s Fedora part of the reproducible builds program?
https://reproducible-builds.org/citests/
https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/reproducible-builds/
I was looking at this page and it would seem that Fedora had once been involved in the project but has maybe abandoned it. It’s been inactive since 2016, but then a Fedora developer tried to reboot their involvement in 2024.
The Reproducible Builds project says that 96.5% of Debian software packages are now made to be reproducible, as well as 88.1% of Arch Linux software packages. This is higher than I had thought.