OpenJS Foundation’s Leader Details the Threats to Open Source

After the XZ Utils backdoor vulnerability was uncovered in March, the OpenJS Foundation saw a surge in inquiries from potential open source JavaScript contributors. Robin Ginn, executive director of the foundation, noted that volunteer-led JavaScript communities often face challenges in managing these contributions. The discovery that a single contributor, "Jia Tan," planted the backdoor heightened vigilance, especially when new contributors requested admin privileges. Ginn emphasized that trust is not synonymous with security, especially in open source projects where maintainers must be vigilant about who can access their repositories.