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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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“Something has gone seriously wrong,” dual-boot systems warn after Microsoft update (arstechnica.com)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Last Tuesday, loads of Linux users—many running packages released as early as this year—started reporting their devices were failing to boot. Instead, they received a cryptic error message that included the phrase: “Something has gone seriously wrong.”

The cause: an update Microsoft issued as part of its monthly patch release. It was intended to close a 2-year-old vulnerability in GRUB, an open source boot loader used to start up many Linux devices. The vulnerability, with a severity rating of 8.6 out of 10, made it possible for hackers to bypass secure boot, the industry standard for ensuring that devices running Windows or other operating systems don’t load malicious firmware or software during the bootup process. CVE-2022-2601 was discovered in 2022, but for unclear reasons, Microsoft patched it only last Tuesday.

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The reports indicate that multiple distributions, including Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Zorin OS, Puppy Linux, are all affected. Microsoft has yet to acknowledge the error publicly, explain how it wasn’t detected during testing, or provide technical guidance to those affected. Company representatives didn’t respond to an email seeking answers.

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[–] [email protected] 121 points 3 months ago (2 children)

CVE-2022-2601 was discovered in 2022, but for unclear reasons, Microsoft patched it only last Tuesday.

I respect their journalistic integrity for not speculating, but it was definitely because the NSA was exploiting it.

[–] [email protected] 68 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Ehhh that's likely enough, but Microsoft is also just shit at fixing things

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (2 children)

That's what they want you to believe.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 months ago

No, they really are. No doubt they do plenty of stuff at the behest of the NSA, but they are also a deeply disfunctional company with conflicts between departments and bare minimum funding for security, since it's seen as a cost centre

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I hate to break it to you but why would the NSA need a security hole in secure boot. They already have all your data from Windows plus Microsoft has the decryption keys.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago

Because some users are putting that data on Linux. So they want Linux to be killed.

They can't change grub. But they sure as hell can convince micro$org to search for and nuke it.

Of course no idea if this happened. Just answering why they would might want to.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (3 children)

So all afected people were potential targets?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago

Potential targets? Sir, thats everybody.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago

No, collateral damage.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

No, intelligence exploits will sometimes affect the majority of computers on a continent