Security vulnerabilities are surfacing rapidly across platforms. Billions of Chrome users face high-severity exploits, Windows users are dealing with a critical account takeover bug, and even Mac users are receiving security warnings. Now, Linux users must act quickly as the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added CVE-2024-53104 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, signaling active exploitation.

What Is CVE-2024-53104?

CVE-2024-53104 is an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in the Linux kernel. These types of vulnerabilities allow attackers to manipulate memory, leading to escalation of privileges, code execution, or denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.

Google patched this vulnerability for Android users on February 3, 2025, confirming that it could enable physical escalation of privilege without requiring extra execution rights. This means that an attacker could potentially plug in a malicious device and take over a system—posing a serious security risk, especially for servers and enterprise environments.

Why This Is a Critical Threat

CISA warns that escalation of privileges vulnerabilities are frequent attack vectors for cybercriminals. These flaws allow attackers to:

• Gain unauthorized access to sensitive systems
• Execute arbitrary code
• Install persistent malware
• Cause denial-of-service (DoS) attacks

Since the vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild, attackers are already targeting unpatched systems. Delaying updates increases the risk of exploitation.

Who Is Affected?

• Linux servers and desktop users running an unpatched kernel version
• Android users before the February security update
• Cloud and enterprise environments using Linux-based infrastructure

How to Protect Your Linux System

CISA urges all Linux users to update their systems within three weeks to mitigate the risk. Follow these steps to secure your environment:

• Check Your Kernel Version
  Run the following command to check your current Linux kernel version:

  uname -r

   

  If you are using an older, vulnerable version, proceed with the update.

   

• Update Your System
  For Debian and Ubuntu:

  sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y


  For RHEL, CentOS, and Fedora:

  sudo dnf update -y


  For Arch Linux:

   sudo pacman -Syu 

   

• Reboot Your System

       After updating the kernel, reboot your machine to apply the patches:

• Verify the Patch
  Check your kernel version again using uname -r to ensure the update was successful.

Final Thoughts

With active attacks exploiting CVE-2024-53104, all Linux users—especially system administrators—must prioritize updating their systems. Cybersecurity threats continue to evolve, and keeping your system up to date is one of the best defenses against zero-day vulnerabilities.

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