Arch contributors are cleaning up a malware incident in the AUR after suspicious updates appeared across several user-maintained packages.

Arch Linux’s AUR is experiencing a malware incident involving user-contributed packages with malicious commits that attempt to download npm-based payloads during installation. (…)

Arch users should not update AUR packages without review. Examine PKGBUILD diffs, check any new .install files, and be cautious if updates introduce npm commands or dependencies unrelated to the software.

Users who recently updated affected AUR packages should review package history, examine executed suspicious install scripts, and treat any unexpected npm-based installation behavior as a possible compromise.

  • Hemingways_Shotgun@lemmy.caEnglish
    5·
    7 hours ago

    Nobody ever says the AUR is safe. In fact they say specifically that it’s not; for exactly the reasons you mention.

    That’s why it’s the Arch USER Repository. You take your fate in your own hands when you choose to use it.

    As for your comment about using a distro that has everything in the main repo? How so? Every flavour has software that isn’t included in the main repos. For Arch based systems, that means either the AUR or Flatpaks. For Debian based systems, that means adding new repos to your sources, which is exactly as unsafe as the AUR in most cases, or using Flatpaks.

    If you’ve ever added a repo on Ubuntu, than you’ve essentially used their version of an AUR. The end result is no different.