A serious bug has been discovered in the Linux kernel that can be used by local users to gain root access. The problem, a vulnerability in the Linux kernel capability model, exists in kernel versions up to and including version 2.2.15. According to Alan Cox, a key member of the Linux developer community, "It will affect programs that drop setuid state and rely on losing saved setuid, even those that check that the setuid call succeeded."

To ensure that this vulnerability cannot be exploited by programs running on Linux, Linux users are advised to update to kernel version 2.2.16 immediately. Information on "capabilities" are discussed in the Capabilities FAQ We also recently ran a story on a capabilities-based operating system that is worth reading.

A serious bug has been discovered in the Linux kernel that can be used by local users to gain root access. The problem, a vulnerability in the Linux kernel capability model, exists in kernel versions up to and including version 2.2.15. According to Alan Cox, a key member of the Linux developer community, "It will affect programs that drop setuid state and rely on losing saved setuid, even those that check that the setuid call succeeded."


To ensure that this vulnerability cannot be exploited by programs running on Linux, Linux users are advised to update to kernel version 2.2.16 immediately. Information on "capabilities" are discussed in the Capabilities FAQ We also recently ran a story on a capabilities-based operating system that is worth reading.

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