Hackers are actively exploiting a recently discovered critical vulnerability that allows them to log in to privileged accounts on many Linux systems, multiple researchers are reporting.
The vulnerability, tracked under the name *sshole, arises from the interaction between OpenSSH and a code library known as musl. Linux systems that use both of these packages and meet certain other requirements can be hacked to give unauthenticated access to high-privilege accounts in a matter of seconds. *sshole became publicly known last Thursday and quickly stoked concerns it could lead to widespread compromise of Linux machines. Four days later, the prediction shows signs of becoming real.
