Ubuntu 26.04 splits #firmware package to reduce update sizes
▻https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/02/ubuntu-26-04-firmware-split
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS will split its 600MB linux-firmware package into 17 vendor-specific packages to reduce bandwidth and download sizes of firmware updates. You’re reading Ubuntu 26.04 splits firmware package to reduce update sizes, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.
#lvfs Asks #Hardware Makers to Fund Future of Linux #firmware Updates
▻https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/08/lvfs-sustainability-plan-vendor-funding
Linux’s firmware hub, the LVFS, announces a new funding model with quotas for vendors to firm up its future. Most vendors will see no change. You’re reading LVFS Asks Hardware Makers to Fund Future of Linux Firmware Updates, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without permission.
Ubuntu Debates Splitting Up Linux #firmware to Reduce Size
▻https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/06/buntu-linux-firmware-package-size-reduction-proposal
To the majority of Ubuntu users, any package update is welcome, irrespective of what it’s for or the size of the download it requires — case in point: linux-firmware which, as more firmware is added or tweaked, grows and grows in size. This singular unified firmware package bundles together drivers and microcode for all kinds of hardware devices, from from wi-fi cards and dongles to graphics cards to storage controllers for NVMes and SSDs. If you’ve ever looked at the Software Updater and seen it needs to pull in 800MB of updates for the second time in a month, chances […] You’re reading Ubuntu Debates Splitting Up Linux Firmware to Reduce Size, a blog post from OMG! Ubuntu. Do not reproduce elsewhere without (...)
next Vault 7 episode : « Dark Matter »
▻https://wikileaks.org/vault7/darkmatter/releases
Among others, these documents reveal the “Sonic Screwdriver” project which, as explained by the CIA, is a “mechanism for executing code on peripheral devices while a Mac laptop or desktop is booting” allowing an attacker to boot its attack software for example from a USB stick “even when a firmware password is enabled”. The CIA’s “Sonic Screwdriver” infector is stored on the modified firmware of an Apple Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter.
“DarkSeaSkies” is “an implant that persists in the EFI firmware of an Apple MacBook Air computer” and consists of “DarkMatter”, “SeaPea” and “NightSkies”, respectively EFI, kernel-space and user-space implants.
Documents on the “Triton” MacOSX malware, its infector “Dark Mallet” and its EFI-persistent version “DerStarke” are also included in this release. While the DerStarke1.4 manual released today dates to 2013, other Vault 7 documents show that as of 2016 the CIA continues to rely on and update these systems and is working on the production of DerStarke2.0.
Also included in this release is the manual for the CIA’s “NightSkies 1.2” a “beacon/loader/implant tool” for the Apple iPhone. Noteworthy is that NightSkies had reached 1.2 by 2008, and is expressly designed to be physically installed onto factory fresh iPhones. i.e the CIA has been infecting the iPhone supply chain of its targets since at least 2008.
Articles referencing this:
WikiLeaks’ New Dump Shows How The CIA Allegedly Hacked Macs and iPhones Almost a Decade Ago
▻https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wikileaks-new-dump-shows-how-cia-allegedly-hacked-macs-and-iphones
j’ignore. ça viendra peut-être ?
En tout cas, là il s’agit surtout de méthodes qui nécessitent un accès physique afin de renter dans les machines.
entre temps, selon TechCrunch
Apple says recent WikiLeaks CIA docs detail old, fixed iPhone and Mac exploits
▻https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/23/apple-says-recent-wikileaks-cia-docs-detail-old-fixed-iphone-and-mac-exp
Apple:
"Based on our initial analysis, the alleged iPhone vulnerability affected iPhone 3G only and was fixed in 2009 when iPhone 3GS was released. Additionally, our preliminary assessment shows the alleged Mac vulnerabilities were previously fixed in all Macs launched after 2013."
FreeCalypso Libre Phone Project
▻https://www.freecalypso.org
Prior to our project, all existing cellular phones without exception (dumb, smart, old, new, whatever) ran proprietary firmware which we could not study or modify, and this situation caused us severe distress. Alice could be a devout user of free software, never touching a proprietary operating system on any PC or other general-purpose computer, but the moment she would like to call her boyfriend Bob and tell him how her day went, she is forced to use a phone, dumb or smart, whose core telephony functions are driven by proprietary code she cannot study or modify.
#Firmware #Libriste #Logiciel_libre #Open_source #Téléphone_mobile
260 experts exigent l’Open Source pour les firmwares importants
Un groupe d’experts de l’industrie informatique, dont le « père de l’internet » Vint Cerf, ont demandé au régulateur américain d’obliger les constructeurs à rendre leurs firmwares open-source. S’ils parlent en priorité des routeurs Wi-Fi, le sujet pourrait s’étendre jusqu’aux firmwares des moteurs de voiture...
▻http://www.numerama.com/tech/126796-260-experts-exigent-lopen-source-pour-les-firmwares-importants.html
Excellente analyse du #firmware d’un routeur #D-link, avec découverte d’une énorme faille de sécurité
▻http://www.devttys0.com/2015/04/hacking-the-d-link-dir-890l
Génial : le patch ajoute en fait une nouvelle bogue : ▻http://www.devttys0.com/2015/04/what-the-ridiculous-fuck-d-link
So the #Equation_Group made you realize that hard #disk #firmware #malversation isn’t a merely theoretical threat ? A contemporary hard disk is actually a fairly powerful little computer all by itself. Learn about hard disk firmware hacking in practice, step by step:
▻http://spritesmods.com/?art=hddhack&page=all #assembler
#Malware that targets #firmware of hard #disks from multiple manufacturers, undetected for years. Exceptionally scary.
▻http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/02/how-omnipotent-hackers-tied-to-the-nsa-hid-for-14-years-and-were-found-at-last/#Equation_Group
Canon EOS 5D MarkII Firmware Update
►http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/firm-e/eos5dmk2/firmware.html
