A critical Linux kernel vulnerability (CVE-2024-1086) is now actively exploited in ransomware attacks, according to a recent update from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). First publicly disclosed on January 31, 2024, this flaw stems from a decade-old code commit to the netfilter: nf_tables kernel component and was patched early in 2024.  However, the exploit—which allows attackers with local access to escalate privileges and gain root control over affected systems—remains a severe threat for systems running kernel versions from 3.15 to 6.8-rc1, affecting prominent distributions like Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and Red Hat. CISA’s latest advisory confirms the vulnerability is leveraged in live ransomware campaigns but doesn’t provide detailed incident counts or victim breakdowns. The agency added CVE-2024-1086 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog in May 2024, mandating federal agencies patch by June 20, 2024 or implement mitigations. These mitigations include blocklisting ‘nf_tables’ if not in use, restricting user namespace access to shrink the attack surface, and optionally deploying the Linux Kernel Runtime Guard (LKRG)—though the latter may introduce instability. Security experts and community commentators highlight both the significance and scope of the risk. The flaw enables threat actors to achieve root-level system takeover—compromising defenses, altering files, moving laterally within networks, and exfiltrating sensitive data.  Its effects are especially critical in server and enterprise contexts (where vulnerable kernel versions are widely deployed) rather than typical desktop Linux environments. For context, a security researcher known as 'Notselwyn' published a proof-of-concept exploit in March 2024 that clearly demonstrates effective privilege escalation on kernel versions 5.14 through 6.6, broadening attack feasibility for cybercriminals. Immutability in Linux distributions (such as ChromeOS, Fedora Kinoite) is noted as a partial defense, limiting exploit persistence but not fully mitigating in-memory or user-data targeting attacks. CISA stresses following vendor-specific instructions for mitigation and, where remedies are unavailable, discontinuing product use for guaranteed safety.  Community debate also reflects persistent frustration at slow patch adoption and challenges in keeping kernels up to date across varied deployment environments. The ongoing exploitation—as confirmed by CISA—underscores the critical need for timely patching, rigorous access controls, and awareness of Linux privilege escalation risks in the face of escalating ransomware threats.

Linux 6.18 RC5 is now live for developers and curious users to try out. All the interesting changes from performance improvements to bug fixes have been integrated to this release candidate. The official announcement from the kernel mailing list says: Things remain calm and small, and everything looks pretty normal. The rc5 diffstat is mostly drivers, with misc random noise in…

Every week, new Linux versions that are under a supported version series get released to incorporate bug fixes and other general improvements that are pushed to the servicing branches. This ensures that your Linux user experience gets better when latest versions fix some of the bugs. This week, the below Linux kernel versions are released:

Origin

Origin

Linux 6.18 RC4 is now live for developers and curious users to try out. All the interesting changes from performance improvements to bug fixes have been integrated to this release candidate. The official announcement from the kernel mailing list says: I'm cutting rc4 a couple of hours early, because I am about to get on a plane for conference travel. But things look calm and pretty normal, and I'm traveling with my laptop, so apart from slight timing oddities that shouldn't affect anything.

Origin

Every week, new Linux versions that are under a supported version series get released to incorporate bug fixes and other general improvements that are pushed to the servicing branches. This ensures that your Linux user experience gets better when latest versions fix some of the bugs. This week, the below Linux kernel versions are released:

I had the privilege to get outside of my normal daily opportunities and learn about a new industry that I knew little about, AI Infrastructure. The folks at Tech Field Day invited me to AI…

I share how I built, debugged, and cross-compiled my first Linux character driver for the Raspberry Pi — and what kernel programming taught me.

The wait is over! MX-25 “Infinity” RC1 Released brings Debian 13 “Trixie,” a 6.12 LTS kernel, and Qt6-enhanced MX Tools to the table. With polished Xfce, KDE Plasma, and Fluxbox desktops, plus Secure ...

Every week, new Linux versions that are under a supported version series get released to incorporate bug fixes and other general improvements that are pushed to the servicing branches. This ensures that your Linux user experience gets better when latest versions fix some of the bugs. This week, the below Linux kernel versions are released:

Linux 6.18 RC3 is now live for developers and curious users to try out. All the interesting changes from performance improvements to bug fixes have been integrated to this release candidate. The official announcement from the kernel mailing list says: Things feel fairly normal, and in fact the numbers say it's been a bit calmer than usual, but that's likely just the usual fluctuation in pull request timing rather than anything else.

Origin

Linux 6.18 RC2 is now live for developers and curious users to try out. All the interesting changes from performance improvements to bug fixes have been integrated to this release candidate. The official announcement from the kernel mailing list says: No huge surprises here. We had a number of regressions in rc1 reported by Guenter's automated test system, so it's not like this release has been all smooth sailing, but at least _some_ of them turned out to be trivial configuration issues, or in the case of big-endian SH4 they seem to have been "just" bugs in the qemu test environment, not actually new kernel bugs.

Origin

Every week, new Linux versions that are under a supported version series get released to incorporate bug fixes and other general improvements that are pushed to the servicing branches. This ensures that your Linux user experience gets better when latest versions fix some of the bugs. This week, the below Linux kernel versions are released: