Skip to content

Are all BSDs are created equally? A survey of BSD kerne

Ilja van Sprundel

Comparative security audit of NetBSD, OpenBSD, and FreeBSD kernels to identify vulnerability patterns.

Summary

Research Question

Given limited security kernel bug advisories released annually, the question arises: why are there so few BSD kernel bugs compared to other systems? Limited and outdated sources make this difficult to answer.

Audit Methodology

Active investigation and auditing is conducted across all 3 major BSD distributions: NetBSD, OpenBSD, and FreeBSD. Code review, fuzzing, and runtime testing target specific areas where bugs are likely to be found.

Research Process

Detailed investigation precedes thorough code review in candidate areas. Samples and demos illustrate findings. The presentation covers bug discovery methodology and results across the three distributions.

Comparative Analysis

The presentation identifies the clear winner and loser among BSD distributions based on bug findings. Code quality observations are detailed with pointers for improvement. The presentation answers the question of why so few kernel bug advisories exist compared to other operating systems.

Related talks