Arch Linux users worldwide have experienced widespread service degradation since August 20, as our infrastructure comes under a sustained denial-of-service (DoS) attack.
The assault has targeted three core components of the Arch ecosystem—our main website, the Arch User Repository (AUR), and the community Forums—causing intermittent unavailability and degraded performance.
Our volunteer DevOps team is collaborating closely with our hosting provider to mitigate the attack, while evaluating long-term DDoS protection options that balance cost, efficacy, and ethical standards.
Attack Impact and Mitigation Efforts
The majority of connectivity issues manifest as initial TCP SYN resets; however, once connections are established, page loads often succeed.
We recognize how frustrating this is for end users, particularly those accessing installation guides, package details, or community discussions. To provide greater visibility.
Behind the scenes, our DevOps team is:
- Coordinating with upstream network engineers to filter malicious traffic.
- Exploring partnerships with established DDoS mitigation vendors.
- Maintaining additional capacity on unaffected mirror nodes.
- Preserving internal logs and forensic data for eventual public disclosure once the attack subsides.
As a volunteer-driven project, we deeply appreciate the patience and support of our community.
While we cannot share every technical detail mid-attack, rest assured that every viable countermeasure is under consideration.
Workarounds During Service Disruption
Although full restoration is our top priority, several alternative endpoints and mirror sites remain available.
The following table summarizes recommended workarounds:
| Affected Service | Alternative Endpoint / Mirror | Access Instructions |
|---|---|---|
| archlinux.org main site | Default mirror list from pacman-mirrorlist package | Use reflector or manually update /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist with entries from the pacman-mirrorlist package |
| Installation ISOs | Geomirror archive (e.g., https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/iso/) | Download ISO; verify signature as described in the Installation Guide using key 0x54449A5C |
| aur.archlinux.org | GitHub AUR mirror (https://github.com/archlinux/aur) | Clone specific package:git clone --branch <package_name> --single-branch https://github.com/archlinux/aur.git <package_name> |
| wiki.archlinux.org | arch-wiki-docs or arch-wiki-lite snapshots | Browse documentation snapshots offline or via static hosting at snapshot repositories |
Community and Next Steps
We urge all Arch Linux contributors and users to verify their mirror configurations and leverage these fallbacks until normal operations resume.
Regular status updates, including expected recovery timelines, will be published at https://status.archlinux.org/.
Once the attack concludes, a full post-mortem will outline root causes, attacker attribution (where possible), and improvements to our layered defense strategy.
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