Subject: [bug#53765] [PATCH 12/17] gnu: Add clojure-com-cognitect-http-client.

From: Maxime Devos <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2022 20:30:04 +0100

Reily Siegel schreef op ma 07-02-2022 om 13:06 [-0500]:
> This code is taken directly from Maven, as are many Java packages. This
> relies on whatever authentication Maven does to ensure packages are not
> forgeries.

I took a look at <https://maven.apache.org> and AFAICT Maven does not
have any process in place to prevent forgeries or malicious code;
there does not appear to be any vetting process, though perhaps
I haven't looked far enough.

A web page from cognitect telling ‘grab source code from Maven
(com/cognitect/http-client)’, combined with going over the source
code to sniff things like ’Send ~/.gnupg to evil.com’ should be
sufficient.

For the damage the absence of a vetting process can do,
see e.g. <https://lwn.net/Articles/694830/>.  The same issue
appears to hold for PyPI, RubyGems and npm.

Greetings,
Maxime.