Quote:A critical Linux bug has been discovered that could allow attackers to fully compromise vulnerable machines. A fix has been proposed but has not yet been incorporated into the Linux kernel.
 
The flaw (CVE-2019-17666), which was classified as critical in severity, exists in the “rtlwifi” driver, which is a software component used to allow certain Realtek Wi-Fi modules, used in Linux devices, to communicate with the Linux operating system.
 
Specifically, the driver is vulnerable to a buffer overflow attack, where a buffer (a region in physical memory storage used to temporarily store data while it is being moved) is allocated in the heap portion of memory (a region of process’s memory which is used to store dynamic variables). That excess data in turn corrupts nearby space in memory and could alter other data, opening the door for malicious attacks. This specific flaw could enable attackers to launch a variety of attacks – from crashing vulnerable Linux machines to full takeover.