Recently, exploits were discovered in the latest versions of Windows 10/11 and Linux by two separate groups of independent cybersecurity researchers.
Major vulnerability found in Windows
Hackers can exploit both vulnerabilities to give users without administrative privileges full access to the affected operating system.
The Windows exploit was discovered by security researcher Jonas Lykkegaard, who shared his findings on Twitter. Lykkegaard discovered that Windows 10 and 11 registry files associated with the Security Account Manager (SAM) are accessible to the "User" group, which has minimal access rights on a computer.
The SAM is a database that stores user accounts and account descriptions. This bug, according to Microsoft, could allow malicious actors to "…install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights."
