• Arch Linux disables AUR package adoption

    From LWN.net@618:250/24 to All on Sat Aug 1 06:40:20 2026

    The Arch Linux DevOps team has announced
    that adoption of orphaned packages in the Arch User Repository (AUR)
    has been disabled due to "the current influx of malicious package
    adoptions and follow-up commits made via the AUR". Michael Taggart
    has posted a brief analysis of the malware being added to a long
    list of packages in this round of attacks. The payload appears
    to be an remote-access trojan (RAT) that takes commands over the
    Tor network and attempts to upload a wide range of user data.

    The project had suspended
    new account registration in June. That followed a campaign in which an
    attacker or attackers created new accounts to adopt orphaned packages
    and push malicious updates to them that would install malware on user
    systems. AUR registration was reopened
    on July 13 after the DevOps team added some minor, and apparently
    ineffective, restrictions on creating new accounts.

    https://lwn.net/Articles/1086489/
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