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+---- Thread: New Linux Copy Fail flaw gives hackers root on major distros - UPDATE / PATCH soon! (/showthread.php?tid=6324865)
New Linux Copy Fail flaw gives hackers root on major distros - UPDATE / PATCH soon! - MadScientist - May 3, 2026
An exploit has been published for a local privilege escalation vulnerability dubbed “Copy Fail” that impacts Linux kernels released since 2017, allowing an unprivileged local attacker to gain root permissions.
The vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2026-31431 and was discovered by the offensive security company Theori, using its AI-driven pentesting platform Xint Code after scaning the Linux crypto/ sybsystem for about an hour.
Theori reported the finding to the Linux kernel security team on March 23, and patches became available within a week. Technical details and a proof-of-concept exploit for the flaw emerged publicly yesterday.
Although the cybersecurity company developed and tested a "100% reliable" Python-based exploit for four Linux distributions (Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Amazon Linux 2023, RHEL 10.1, and SUSE 16), the researchers say that the 732-byte "script roots every Linux distribution shipped since 2017."
Read more - https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-linux-copy-fail-flaw-gives-hackers-root-on-major-distros/
RE: New Linux Copy Fail flaw gives hackers root on major distros - UPDATE / PATCH soon! - G Reviews - May 5, 2026
Interesting that an AI-driven platform discovered this vulnerability so quickly - shows how automation is changing the security landscape. The fact that such a small exploit (732 bytes) can root virtually all Linux distributions since 2017 is particularly concerning for system administrators who might have legacy systems still in use. Have any major Linux distros released advisories specifically about this vulnerability yet?