Learning Nexus customers may be aware that an announcement was recently made regarding the vulnerability in the Linux Kernel called “Dirty Cow”, which potentially gives a malicious user the ability to gain root privileges on a compromised server. This is a vulnerability affecting a huge number of servers online across the UK. This is because the vast majority of web hosting systems run on Linux. If you would like more details about “Dirty Cow”, you can visit this website.
Due to the serious nature of this vulnerability, and the fact that exploits for this vulnerability already existed in the wilk, we took the decision to update our servers as soon as the ‘patches’ for the Linux Kernel were made available by the vendor. Rather than waiting for the next “Maintenance Window”, we decided to make the update straightaway to avoid vulnerability.
This update required a server reboot which meant your LMS/VLE Service was unavailable for a few minutes between 13:50 and 14:00 on Wednesday 26th October 2016. Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused to users during this time period and please do get in touch if you have any questions or would like to know further information.