Tag Archives: linux risk
Easy-to-exploit rooting flaw puts Linux PCs at risk
The flaw allows attackers with limited access to Linux computers to gain root privileges.
Tux, the Linux mascot. Credit: Larry Ewing and Garrett LeSage via Wikimedia Commons
The maintainers of Linux distributions are rushing to patch a privilege escalation vulnerability that’s already being exploited in the wild and poses a serious risk to servers, desktops and other devices that run the OS.
The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2016-5195, has existed in the Linux kernel for the past nine years. This means that many kernel versions that are used in a variety of computers, servers, routers, embedded devices and hardware appliances are affected.
