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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Found a security bug in LMDE6, need some help (i.imgur.com)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I have an older Intel laptop that has a 1600x900 display, and I find that if I put the machine to sleep, connect an external monitor with a higher resolution, and then turn it back on, the login screen doesn't adjust to the new resolution and it reveals what I had open (see photo).

However, I'm not that familiar with Linux Mint (even though I've daily driven Linux for nearly 10 years, I very casually use LMDE) and I'm not sure if this is a Cinnamon problem or if the lock screen is under a different program.

Looking at Linux Mint's webpage on reporting a bug (https://projects.linuxmint.com/reporting-an-issue.html) they seem to mostly use Cinnamon as an example, but I don't want to report this issue as a Cinnamon issue if it's the wrong project.

In case this is platform specific, my device's details are below:

Host: Dell Latitude E6420
CPU: Intel Core i7-2630QM (Sandy Bridge)
GPU: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family
Kernel: 6.1.0-21-amd64
DE: Cinnamon 6.0.4
WM: Mutter (Muffin)
Display Server: X11

I've never filed a bug report in my life before, usually I just put up with the issue until it's eventually fixed, but I feel this is a moderate security issue that should be flagged.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

None of the desktop environments like xscreensaver because it breaks their window decorations and input handling. It does this for security purposes because its job is first and foremost to be as secure as possible then once that’s done go ahead and make pretty pictures.

If it sounds crazy that input and window decorations would be insecure, peruse the maintainers webpage and be horrified.

Wayland needs infinite workarounds to get xscreensaver working because the way you’d do it under the Wayland framework is with a weird method called uhh ext_session_lock (I reference it in another comment but I’m not sure that’s the right one now.) which at least as of about a year ago let screen locking programs handle passwords directly!

I think it’s an artifact of open source software being maintained by people who are on the payroll of companies that rely on the software.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Thanks for taking the time to reply, that makes a lot of sense.

I haven't switched to Wayland yet. It makes sense why xscreensaver wouldn't work well with an entirely different window server. I was just surprised it was so difficult (for me at least) to use with modern window managers despite being relevant and mature, haha.