Linux is an open-source operating system used across servers and devices, so kernel, distribution, and software vulnerabilities can affect deployed systems.
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Background for this topic.
Linux is an open-source operating-system kernel: privileged software that manages hardware, memory, processes, filesystems, and networking. Most deployments use it through a distribution that adds user-space tools, package managers, libraries, and an update policy. This distinction matters in security reporting: a kernel flaw, a distribution-package flaw, and a flaw in an application running on Linux may have different affected versions and fixes.
Material attack surfaces include kernel code, loadable modules and device drivers, network services, local privilege boundaries, and third-party packages. Vulnerabilities can enable denial of service, information disclosure, or escalation from an unprivileged account to root, depending on configuration and exploitability. Administrators should track upstream and distribution advisories, apply security updates, and reboot when a running kernel remains vulnerable. Mandatory access-control systems such as SELinux or AppArmor can restrict compromised processes; signed repositories, audit logs, and tested configuration baselines support package integrity and investigation. Open source does not itself guarantee security: exposure depends on code, configuration, maintenance, and the surrounding software stack.
Researchers link the APT to an attack on a Hong Kong university, which compromised multiple key servers using advanced Linux malware.
Eset also said the same university was targeted during student protests in May 2020
Security analysts have found a severe security vulnerability in the desktop app for Microsoft Teams that gives threat actors access to authentication tokens and accounts with multi-factor authentication (MFA) turned on. [...]
State-backed Chinese hackers have developed a Linux variant for the SideWalk backdoor used against Windows systems belonging to targets in the academic sector. [...]
State-backed Chinese hackers have developed a Linux variant for the SideWalk backdoor used against Windows systems belonging to targets in the academic sector. [...]
A Linux variant of a backdoor known as SideWalk was used to target a Hong Kong university in February 2021, underscoring the cross-platform abilities of the implant. Slovak cybersecurity firm ESET, which detected the malware in the university's network, attributed the backdoor to a nation-state actor dubbed SparklingGoblin. The unnamed university is said to have been already targeted by the
VMware is warning that ESXi VMs running on Linux kernel 5.19 can have up to a 70% performance drop when Retbleed mitigations are enabled compared to the Linux kernel 5.18 release. [...]
VMware ran tests on kernel 5.19 and saw some nasty numbers. Meanwhile progress on version 6.0 is steady VMware engineers have tested the Linux kernel's fix for the Retbleed speculative execution bug, and report it can impact compute performance by a whopping 70 percent.…