Owners of a Bitcoin Node will need to update their server sooner rather than later, as a major Linux vulnerability has been discovered recently. Keeping in mind how most of the people using an online Linux server to run a Bitcoin node will have little server admin experience, running one simple command should do the trick. Failure to do so may result in the server becoming part of a growing botnet.
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Linux Vulnerability Affects Bitcoin Node Servers
Less than 24 hours ago, a post appeared on Slashdot regarding a serious vulnerability affected almost all Linux systems in the world. To be more precise, the weakness was revealed by Google’s online security team, who noticed there was something wrong with the Gnu C Library’s DNS Client.
While all of this may sound very technical to the average user, just keep in mind this security hole affects nearly every Linux machine in the world unless network administrators and users upgrade their installations. What this vulnerability does is put Linux machines at risk for remote code execution, allowing assailants to take over the machine and use it for nefarious purposes.
At first, researchers assumed Android devices could be affected as well, as the popular mobile operating system is based on Linux. But it turns out mobile users are safe from this vulnerability for now, for the most part anyway. Some Android apps make use of the glibc protocol, and they could be affected as well.
Bitcoin Node owners need to update their servers as soon as possible, as security patches have been released for most Linux distros. Keeping in mind how most of these servers give very limited server admin rights, all it takes is the following simple command to make sure your Bitcoin node is protected from harm:
“sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade && sudo reboot”
The reboot part is necessary to ensure the security patch is installed and applied correctly. Just running the update and upgrade commands on their own is not enough, as changes to the software will not be saved until the server is rebooted. If restarting the server is not an option, the best solution is to shut it down complete, get in touch with the provider and ask them to update the software to patch this vulnerability.
Rebooting your Linux server now and then is needed regardless of manual updates, as not all automatic system updates are applied successfully without a reboot. Failure to upgrade the Linux OS could result in a Bitcoin Node server becoming part of a botnet to inflict damage on other computers or network.
Source; Reddit
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