New Windows and Linux Flaws Give Attackers Highest System Privileges
Recently discovered flaws impacting Linux and Windows users alike could give attackers the highest system privileges. Remediations have been released for a security shortcoming affecting all Linux kernel versions from 2014 that can be exploited by malicious users and malware already deployed on a system to gain root-level privileges.
Microsoft's Windows 10 and the upcoming Windows 11 versions have been found vulnerable to a new local privilege escalation vulnerability that permits users with low-level permissions access Windows system files, in turn, enabling them to unmask the operating system installation password and even decrypt private keys.
"Starting with Windows 10 build 1809, non-administrative users are granted access to SAM, SYSTEM, and SECURITY registry hive files," CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) said in a vulnerability note published Monday. "This can allow for local privilege escalation (LPE)."