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With containerization on the rise as cloud adoption soars, find out about the security features associated with Linux containers
Posts tagged "Linux"
Microsoft refreshes its own in-house Linux distro
CBL-Mariner, Microsoft’s Linux distro, has received its first update in more than half a year, and although it doesn’t add much on the functionality side, it does fix quite a few bugs as well as patching a number of security flaws.
The March 2022 Update, added to GitHub recently, addresses some 30 CVEs, including the dreaded Dirty Pipe vulnerability that hit headlines earlier this month.
However there isn't much to see in terms of functionality, and the distro’s version number hasn’t moved past 1.0.
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Minimal distros are trending
It does, however, come as an ISO file now, making installation a lot less troublesome. The ISO can be found on this link. It weighs 720MB and, according to The Register, installs in roughly a minute.
The publication also said it is not one of the supported options in Windows Services for Linux, which is a bit strange, but users can still enable Hyper-V and install it like that.
First released in 2020, Common Base Linux (CBL) Mariner, is a free, open-source Linux distribution, developed by Microsoft and is the base container OS for Microsoft Azure services, as well as the graphical component of Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL 2).
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The distro is being developed for Microsoft’s edge network services, as part of the company’s cloud infrastructure. Linux Systems Group, tasked with working on CBL-Mariner, uses it as the base Linux for containers in the Azure Stack HCI implementation of Azure Kubernetes Service.
CBL-Mariner is also used in Azure IoT Edge, running Linux workloads on Windows IoT, as well as to host the Weston compositor for WSLg.
Super minimal distros, which focus almost exclusively on hosting containers, is no novelty, and has been becoming increasingly popular lately, the Register notices. Intel has a similar solution, called Intel Clear Linux, which is now a standalone Linux distribution.
- These are the best Linux laptops right now
Via: The Register
Most QNAP NAS Devices Affected by ‘Dirty Pipe’ Linux Flaw
The “Dirty Pipe” Linux kernel flaw – a high-severity vulnerability in all major distros that grants root access to unprivileged users who have local access – affects most of QNAP’s network-attached storage (NAS) appliances, the Taiwanese manufacturer warned on Monday. Dirty Pipe, a recently reported local privilege escalation vulnerability, affects the Linux kernel on QNAP […]
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Most QNAP NAS Devices Affected by ‘Dirty Pipe’ Linux Flaw
The “Dirty Pipe” Linux kernel flaw – a high-severity vulnerability in all major distros that grants root access to unprivileged users who have local access – affects most of QNAP’s network-attached storage (NAS) appliances, the Taiwanese manufacturer warned on Monday. Dirty Pipe, a recently reported local privilege escalation vulnerability, affects the Linux kernel on QNAP […]
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Bug in the Linux Kernel Allows Privilege Escalation, Container Escape
A missing check allows unprivileged attackers to escape containers and execute arbitrary commands in the kernel.
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Torvalds admits he’s a bit worried about the next Linux build
The speed at which Linux developers are working on version 5.17 of the popular kernel has gotten the OS’ boss a bit worried.
In the weekly State of the kernel post, Linux creator (and the biggest developer) Linus Torvalds, said he believed the progress (or lack thereof) wasn’t caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or “whatever crazy things are going on in the world”, as these things “don't seem to have affected the kernel much.”
However, the number of known regressions that Torvalds is claiming have been out there since late January have affected the development cycle. Although these “don't seem all that big and scary”, Torvalds did stress that some of them were reported right after the rc1 release, meaning they’re getting somewhat stale.
Linux “looks fine”
“I'd hate to have to delay 5.17 just because of them, and I'm starting to be a bit worried here. I think all the affected maintainers know who they are,” he concluded, before urging subsystem maintainers to make these regressions a priority.
Torvalds also seems to be extra careful not to cause any panic, saying “but on the whole, things look fine. Just a few remaining warts is all. But the more testing to verify, the better.”
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Linux, an operating system that, in its early days, couldn’t stand next to the likes of Windows, or macOS, has grown immensely popular with the proliferation of mobile devices and the Internet of Things (IoT). An open-source Unix-like operating system, based on the Linux kernel, the OS now powers Android, the world’s biggest and most popular mobile operating system.
Furthermore, many IoT manufacturers have deployed Linux on their devices, as well.
However, some manufacturers are also moving away from Linux. Google, for example, is developing an entirely new operating system for some of its IoT and smart home devices, called Fuchsia OS. This new OS, which is still in early development phase, is based on a new kernel named Zircon.
- These are the best laptops for programming
Via: The Register
Intel might be about to make a major Linux move
Intel has quietly acquired a German software developer with the aim of bringing fresh life to a key, decades-old Linux kernel project.
In a blog post, vice president and general manager of system software engineering at Intel's Software and Advanced Technology Group, Mark Skarpness revealed that the company had acquired the German firm Linutronix which provides services for Linux-powered industrial systems and also specializes in real-time Linux applications.
While neither Intel nor Linutronix disclosed the financial terms of the deal, the acquisition is a sign that the chip giant wants to further commit to an incredibly important yet often overlooked Linux kernel project.
According to Intel, Linutronix is the “architect of PREEMPT_RT (Real Time)” and this patch set can be used to make low-latency communication possible between controllers, sensors, robots and tooling and other equipment in real-time industrial applications running on Linux.
When enabled, PREEMPT_RT changes the way the Linux kernel handles interrupts and locks to allow threads to to get additional time on a CPU core with little latency. As a result, developers can use it to configure the Linux kernel for real-time use-cases without having to worry about out-of-tree patches, new kernel versions or other disruptions resulting from new point releases.
Revitalizing a key Linux kernel project
Despite its usefulness in Linux-powered industrial systems, like other open source software projects, PREEMPT_RT maintained by a small group of core developers. Up until now, the project has lacked enough contributors and funding to be integrated with the main Linux kernel. Still though, companies having been building products that use this patch and the number doing so will likely increase with Intel's backing.
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Skarpness provided further details on Intel's plans for Linutronix going forward in his blog post announcing the acquisition, saying:
“By acquiring Linutronix, we are deepening our long-standing relationship with a highly respected team of globally recognized Linux experts, adding to the remarkable breadth and depth of Intel’s hardware and software talent. Linutronix will continue to operate as an independent business within our software division, led by Egger and Gleixner.”
In a statement to The Register, Skarpness confirmed that Intel intends to continue to support the PREEMPT_RT project as the company believes it is a “critical piece of technology that's going to be used in a lot of places”.
We'll likely hear more regarding Linutronix and Intel's plans for PREEMPT_RT once the acquisition is complete.
- We’ve also highlighted the best Linux PCs, best Linux laptops and the best laptops for programming
Via The Register
Linux Bug in All Major Distros: ‘An Attacker’s Dream Come True’
The 12-year-old flaw in the sudo-like polkit’s pkexec tool, found in all major Linux distributions, is likely to be exploited in the wild within days.
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Linux Servers at Risk of RCE Due to Critical CWP Bugs
The two flaws in Control Web Panel – a popular web hosting management software used by 200K+ servers – allow code execution as root on Linux servers.
‘Fully Undetected’ SysJoker Backdoor Malware Targets Windows, Linux & macOS
The malware establishes initial access on targeted machines, then waits for additional code to execute.
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