Paper is intended to highlight an "open secret" in the Linux community: that the vendor kernel model is broken and cannot be fixed, and that an upstream stable kernel provides much greater protection from security vulnerabilities.

RENO, Nev., May 16, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- CIQ, the company leading the next generation of software infrastructure for enterprises, has published a white paper titled, "Vendor Kernels, Bugs and Stability." The paper is intended to put numbers around an open secret in the Linux community, specifically, that vendor kernels are inherently insecure and that the current engineering process makes securing those kernels impossible. Instead, the paper advocates, consuming upstream stable kernels affords much greater protection from security vulnerabilities that are routinely back ported in error into vendor kernels.

The paper's authors maintain that "this creates a strong incentive" for customers that are concerned with security and ensuring that their systems are secure to subscribe to and use a stable kernel instead of a vendor kernel. "We believe that the only realistic way for a customer to know they run a kernel that is as secure as possible is to switch to a stable kernel branch."

The paper lists four conclusions:

• The vendor kernel model is broken. It can not be fixed.
• A vendor kernel is an insecure kernel. A late cycle stabilized vendor kernel is doubly so.
• There are just too many known open bugs. It is not feasible to analyze or classify them all.
• An upstream stable kernel provides much greater protection from security vulnerabilities and general bugs in the kernel code.

The white paper is free and open for download at: https://ciq.com/whitepaper/vendor-kernels-bugs-stability/

About CIQ
CIQ builds secure, reliable and performant software infrastructure solutions at scale, with dedicated world-class services for a range of performance intensive computing and enterprise technologies. From the base operating system, through containers, orchestration, provisioning, high-end computing and cloud applications, CIQ works with every part of the technology stack enabling organizations to focus on their core competencies, driving business-transforming innovation. CIQ is the founding support and services partner of Rocky Linux and the creator of the next generation federated computing stack. For more information, please visit ciq.com.

Media Contact

Cristin Connelly, Cathey Communications, 4049316752, [email protected], www.cathey.co 

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SOURCE Cathey Communications