Post #4338323
2026-08-02 23:11 UTC
@GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social @SwiftOnSecurity@infosec.exchange Well, the GDID was originally invented for Windows Update, not for spying. Every OS that updates from a central place needs something like this. If I remember correctly, on Linux it is either in /etc/machine-id or in /var/lib/dbus/machine-id (or both), although there are other possible places for it; see
https://github.com/garyexplains/examples/blob/master/linux_fingerprint_gdid.py
However, unlike Windows, it's easy to re-generate it; basically just delete it and a new one will be generated at boot time.
Replies (1)
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@vunix@infosec.exchange 2026-08-02 23:26
@bontchev@infosec.exchange @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social @SwiftOnSecurity@infosec.exchange Sure, but the machine ID is not part of requests to a central point though (such as dep / rpm update servers). Can be used as an identifier in internal fleets but never by default in modern distros as far as I know and certainly not to package mirrors. Significant difference in use and meaning.