Root access gives an attacker or administrator complete control of a Unix-like system, allowing changes to data, software, accounts, and security settings.
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Root access is unrestricted administrative control of a Unix or Linux system. The root account, or an equivalent privilege obtained through mechanisms such as sudo, can read or change nearly any file, alter system configuration, install software, and control running processes. Related uses of “root” may describe equivalent administrator privileges in containers, cloud workloads, network appliances, or mobile devices.
Because root privileges can bypass ordinary access controls, stolen administrative credentials or a vulnerability that enables privilege escalation can let an attacker modify security settings, access protected data, establish persistence, or disrupt the host. Organizations generally reduce exposure by disabling direct root login where practical, using named administrator accounts with least privilege, protecting privileged authentication with strong controls, and recording and reviewing elevation events. Vulnerability management should prioritize flaws that can grant local or remote root-level execution; during an incident, investigators must assess whether root access was obtained and treat the host’s integrity as potentially compromised.
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When chained together, the two vulnerabilities allow threat actors to gain root-level capabilities on SonicWall's mobile access appliances.
Pull the certificate off the flash of a Shark RV2320EDUS robot vacuum, and you can run root commands on other people's Shark vacuums across the same AWS region: watch the camera, drive the robot, read the map of the house, and take the Wi-Fi password in plaintext
Email attacks overtook exploits as the top ransomware root cause last year. Multifactor authentication (MFA) was deployed in 97% of credential-based attacks but failed to prevent compromise.
Open a repository in Cursor on Windows and, if a file named git.exe is sitting in the project root, Cursor runs it. No click, no approval dialog, no warning that anything in the folder is about to execute
Researchers at Nebula Security have disclosed GhostLock (CVE-2026-43499), a 15-year-old Linux kernel flaw that lets any logged-in user take full root control of a machine that has not been patched
Bad Epoll (CVE-2026-46242) lets local attackers gain root on Linux and Android. The flaw was missed by AI but found by a security researcher. A newly disclosed Linux kernel vulnerability, named Bad Epoll (CVE-2026-46242), allows a local attacker with no special privileges to gain full root access on affected Linux systems and Android devices. Security updates are […]
A newly disclosed Linux kernel flaw called Bad Epoll (CVE-2026-46242) lets an ordinary user with no special access take full control of a machine as root. It affects Linux desktops, servers, and Android, and a fix is out
A critical vulnerability in Progress Kemp LoadMaster can let an unauthenticated attacker execute arbitrary commands as root on the appliance by sending a crafted request to its API
DirtyClone: a Linux kernel privilege escalation that silently rewrites executables in memory, leaving no disk trace. Patch now. JFrog Security Research published a working exploit walkthrough on June 25 for CVE-2026-43503 (CVSS score of 8.8), a Linux kernel privilege escalation they call DirtyClone. It’s the fourth vulnerability in the DirtyFrag family, all sharing the same […]
A flaw in the Linux kernel's traffic-control subsystem can let a local unprivileged user gain root on affected systems
DirtyClone is a new Linux kernel privilege escalation in the DirtyFrag family. JFrog Security Research published a working exploit walkthrough for the flaw on June 25, the first public demonstration for this variant
The flaw enables server-side request forgery (SSRF) and escalates privileges to root, impacting Cisco Unified CM and Unified CM SME deployments.
An unknown threat actor exploited a recently disclosed high-severity security flaw impacting Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN as a zero-day at least two months before it was publicly disclosed, according to new findings from Google-owned Mandiant
Researchers believe rogue peering was used to connect to the victim's SD-WAN devices to gain admin privileges and root-level access.
Threat actors have begun to exploit a recently disclosed critical security flaw impacting Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) and Unified Communications Manager Session Management Edition (Unified CM SME)
Cisco addressed CVE-2026-20181, a critical ISE vulnerability that lets authenticated admins execute commands and gain root access. Cisco addressed a critical command execution vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-20181 (CVSS score of 9.1), affecting Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ISE-PIC. The flaw stems from improper validation of user-supplied input, allowing an authenticated attacker with administrative credentials to […]
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added a security flaw impacting LiteSpeed cPanel Plugin to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, requiring Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies to apply the fixes by June 18, 2026
Second Catalyst SD-WAN Manager flaw exploited as an 0-day this month
Cisco has released security updates to address a vulnerability in the Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, tracked as CVE-2026-20262, that was exploited in attacks to escalate to root privileges. [...]
Attackers took over more than 400 packages in the Arch User Repository (AUR) this week and rewrote their build scripts to install a credential stealer on any machine that built them