Security

Update Catalog

A structured index published by a vendor listing available updates with versions, applicability rules and the locations of payload files. Update clients download the catalog, match it against a local inventory and fetch the payloads it references.

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How a Path Traversal in an Update Client Turns a Downloaded File Into Root

Update tools run as root, write files from the network and trust the paths inside what they download. Why that makes a mundane traversal bug a full operating-system compromise.

intermediate 6 min read

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