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A typo is possible if it had been submitted to normal code review, but hacking into a server to secretly modify code all but rules out an accident.

If you are using gcc you can use the -Wparentheses flag to turn on warnings for this: https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Warning-Options.html#inde...

Even with the "typo" corrected, the patch makes no sense. There is no plausible deniability why it should do what it would do. It was definitely a deliberate attack.