Critical 'Copy Fail' Linux Vulnerability Threatens Major Distributions

A newly discovered vulnerability could affect most open-source major Linux distributions released since 2017, according to security researchers.

The flaw, titled “Copy Fail,” caught the attention of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), who added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on Saturday, warning it poses “significant risks to the federal enterprise.”

The vulnerability can allow attackers to gain root access across a wide range of Linux systems using a 732-byte Python script, though it requires prior code execution on the system to escalate privileges.

Researcher Miguel Angel Duran said that it only requires “10 lines of Python” to access root permissions on any affected system. “This Linux vulnerability is insane,” Duran said.

Linux is a widely used operating system by cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain nodes and custodial services, due to its security and efficiency, meaning the vulnerability could potentially pose risks to the sector if attackers gain initial access.

Xint Code said in an X post on Saturday that the flaw “is a trivially exploitable logic bug in Linux, reachable on all major distros released in the last 9 years.” “A small, portable python script gets root on all platforms,” Xint Code said.

Cybersecurity firm Theori CEO Brian Pak said in an X post on Saturday that he reported the vulnerability “privately” to the Linux kernel security team on March 23. “We worked with them on patches, which landed in mainline on April 1. CVE assigned April 22. We disclosed publicly on April 29 with a full write-up and PoC,” Pak said.