Security News > 2021 > February > Recent Sudo Vulnerability Affects Apple, Cisco Products
Apple's macOS Big Sur operating system and multiple Cisco products are also affected by the recently disclosed major security flaw in the Sudo utility.
The vulnerability was patched in Sudo 1.9.5p2. Researchers at cybersecurity firm Qualys, who discovered the bug, only tested it on several Linux distributions, such as Debian, Fedora, and Ubuntu, but did warn that most Unix- and Linux-based systems are likely affected by the vulnerability.
Apple this week issued patches for more than 60 vulnerabilities in macOS Big Sur, Catalina, and Mojave, but none of these addresses the bug in Sudo.
In an advisory published last week but updated twice since, Cisco reveals that it is currently investigating which of its products are affected by the Baron Samedit vulnerability.
"An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by accessing a Unix shell on an affected device and then invoking the sudoedit command with crafted parameters or by executing a binary exploit. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands or binaries with root privileges," the company explains.
To date, there are no indicators that the Sudo vulnerability is being exploited in live attacks, but users are advised to apply patches for it as soon as they become available for their products.