Insight: Ubuntu Levels Up Security—Embracing sudo-rs for a Safer Future

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Insight: Ubuntu Levels Up Security—Embracing sudo-rs for a Safer Future







Canonical, the company behind the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution, has made a significant announcement that's set to bolster the security foundations of millions of systems worldwide. Starting with Ubuntu 25.10 "Questing Quokka," the default sudo utility will be replaced with sudo-rs, a memory-safe reimplementation written in Rust. This move isn't just a technical curiosity; it represents a proactive step towards a more secure and resilient Linux ecosystem.


What is sudo and Why is This Change Important?

For anyone who's ever managed a Linux system, sudo is a familiar friend. It's the command that allows authorized users to execute commands with the privileges of another user, most commonly the superuser (root). Given its critical role in privilege escalation, sudo is a prime target for attackers looking to gain unauthorized access to a system.

Traditionally, sudo has been written in C, a powerful but low-level language that, while efficient, is susceptible to certain classes of memory safety vulnerabilities. These include issues like buffer overflows and use-after-free errors, which can be exploited by malicious actors to compromise system integrity.


Enter sudo-rs: The Rust Advantage

sudo-rs is a project by the Trifecta Tech Foundation, developed as a direct response to these memory safety concerns. By rewriting sudo in Rust, sudo-rs leverages Rust's inherent design principles to virtually eliminate these vulnerabilities at compile time. Rust's strict ownership and borrowing rules prevent common programming errors that lead to memory corruption, making sudo-rs inherently more secure.

This isn't about simply rewriting code for the sake of it. As Jon Seager, VP Engineering Ubuntu at Canonical, emphasized, the primary driver behind this change is the "enhanced resilience and safety" that Rust offers for critical system utilities.


What Does This Mean for Ubuntu Users?

For the vast majority of Ubuntu users, the transition to sudo-rs will be seamless. The command you type (sudo) will remain the same, and its functionality will be largely identical. sudo-rs is designed as a drop-in replacement, meaning your existing scripts and workflows should continue to operate without interruption.

Canonical is working closely with the Trifecta Tech Foundation and even collaborating with Todd Miller, the original maintainer of sudo for over three decades, to ensure a smooth and stable transition. This collaboration ensures that sudo-rs benefits from decades of experience in privilege management.

While some highly niche or "outdated" features of the original C-based sudo might not be reimplemented in sudo-rs (as the developers are taking a "less is more" approach), the original sudo will remain available in the Ubuntu archives for those who specifically require it.


Beyond Security: The Broader Impact

The adoption of sudo-rs in Ubuntu 25.10, and its planned inclusion in the next Long Term Support (LTS) release, Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, signifies a broader commitment from Canonical to "oxidize" more of Ubuntu's core components with Rust. This trend is already visible with projects like oxidizr which aims to replace traditional Unix utilities with Rust-based alternatives.

This shift towards Rust in fundamental system programming is a testament to the language's growing maturity and its promise of delivering more robust and secure software. By leading the charge with sudo-rs, Ubuntu is not only strengthening its own security posture but also paving the way for wider adoption of memory-safe languages in the Linux ecosystem, ultimately benefiting all users.


Looking Ahead

The inclusion of sudo-rs in Ubuntu 25.10 serves as a crucial testing phase. This allows the community to stress-test the new implementation in real-world scenarios and provide valuable feedback before it becomes a stable component of the next LTS release.

This is an exciting time for Linux users and developers alike. The move to sudo-rs underscores a proactive and forward-thinking approach to system security, promising a more resilient and trustworthy computing experience for everyone.


Need Ubuntu Expertise?

We'd love to help you with your Ubuntu projects.  Feel free to reach out to us at info@pacificw.com.


Written by Aaron Rose, software engineer and technology writer at Tech-Reader.blog.

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