As outlined in The Register, a security vulnerability dubbed "*sshole" allows attackers to gain root access on certain Linux systems by entering a password longer than 256 bytes.
The flaw specifically impacts systems using musl libc rather than the traditional GNU C library. To be vulnerable, the system must run the OpenSSH secure shell daemon without Pluggable Authentication Modules and have password authentication enabled. Under these conditions, accounts typically restricted from password access, such as root or key-only users, may be compromised if they contain an asterisk in the password field. This issue is particularly relevant for Alpine Linux, which is widely used in cloud environments like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. The vulnerability stems from how musl libc handles password hashing failures and a 256-byte limit on password lengths. OpenSSH addressed the flaw in version 10.6p2, released on Thursday. Administrators who cannot update immediately are advised to disable password authentication and restart the SSH daemon. While there is no evidence of active exploitation, researchers have provided command-line tools to help users verify if their systems have been targeted. This discovery highlights the importance of maintaining updated software, as the underlying logic error has existed within the codebase since 2016.
Source: The Register
