Fault found at Linux core
Linux users have been advised to upgrade to the latest stable kernel, after the discovery of a critical vulnerability in the core code.
System administrators will have to oversee kernel upgrades to remove the flaw, provisionally called CAN-2003-0961, which enables attackers to gain root access to vulnerable machines, yielding complete control, according to security analysts.
But worm attacks are unlikely, as the exploit requires a local user account.
Because the flaw is in the Linux kernel, the problem affects virtually every distribution of the operating system and several vendors have already confirmed that their products are vulnerable.
The vulnerability is in all releases of the kernel from version 2.4.0 to 2.5.69, but has been fixed in 2.4.23 and the 2.6.0 beta.
The Debian Project development team identified the flaw after their servers were compromised last month.
