CISA Alerts Federal Agencies to Patch Actively Exploited Linux Kernel Flaw

CISA Alerts Federal Agencies to Patch Actively Exploited Linux Kernel Flaw

May 30, 2024 at 02:09PM

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) highlighted a high-severity security flaw in the Linux kernel (CVE-2024-1086) enabling local privilege escalation. Additionally, a security flaw in Check Point network gateway products (CVE-2024-24919) was added to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Federal agencies are urged to apply the latest fixes by June 20, 2024.

Key takeaways from the meeting notes:

1. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added a security flaw affecting the Linux kernel to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. This flaw, tracked as CVE-2024-1086, is a high-severity issue related to a use-after-free bug in the netfilter component. It permits a local attacker to elevate privileges from a regular user to root and possibly execute arbitrary code.

2. The vulnerability in the netfilter component of the Linux kernel allows an attacker to achieve local privilege escalation.

3. The vulnerability in the Check Point network gateway security products, tracked as CVE-2024-24919, allows an attacker to read sensitive information on Internet-connected Gateways with remote access VPN or mobile access enabled.

4. Federal agencies are recommended to apply the latest fixes by June 20, 2024, to protect their networks against potential threats posed by these vulnerabilities.

5. The exact nature of the attacks exploiting the Linux kernel vulnerability is currently unknown.

These takeaways highlight the urgent need for federal agencies to update their systems to protect against these actively exploited vulnerabilities.

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