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[–] 11 points 4 months ago (3 children)

What do you mean? If you use Linux on your computer, it's also relevant. Any program can quietly drop a root shell from any privilege level in 10 lines of python.

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  • [–] 41 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    This attack must be run locally. The attacker must already have user access. They can then escalate privileges using this. Meaning your box must already be compromised for this to work. Still serious, but no need to panic in most cases.

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  • [–] 10 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    A local compromise happens more than you think

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (1 child)

    Do you have a source for how often it happens or is this conjecture? I guess this would most often happen through supply chain attacks or physical access, the first not being all that common in my understanding and the latter not being a typical threat model for a home computer. But if you have a source explaining what actually happens, I would love to read it.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago* (1 child)

    There are plenty of way to get a local unprivileged shell

    For instance, if you are running a old version of cups someone could chain together several vulnerabilities to gain root on your system

    https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/cups-flaws-enable-linux-remote-code-execution-but-theres-a-catch/

    Having a MAC like SELinux helps to mitigate this but you still should patch as soon as possible

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    These are from 2024 (which means your box likely has none of these in 2026), and “the attacker has to trick a user into printing from a malicious printer server on their local network that suddenly appears on their machine” which is quite unlikely for a regular home pc. The attacker would require access to your network which would likely mean they’re inside your house so you have other problems besides privilege escalation.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 8 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    /c/selfhosted moment

    Sure don't patch a quiet and easy root shell escalation because it is, by itself, not a remote exploit. I sure do hope you trust every single piece of software running on your computer.

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  • [–] 14 points 4 months ago

    I think you’re displaying a very big gap between understanding risk assessment and understanding task completion. So far I have not seen anyone say they would not complete the task. I have seen people complete risk assessment. Risk assessment does not mean I will not do something, it just reflects the urgency with which I will do it. Most self-hosted users can safely apply basic risk assessment to see, while the impact may be high, the likelihood is low. Obviously the likelihood increases the more hands off you are with, say, unattended container updates for things that can escape containers or access the underlying system. Should most self-hosted users literally drop everything, rush home, and apply the patch? No, basic risk assessment does not merit that. Should everyone apply the patch? Yes.

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