Debian and Ubuntu Fix Man-in-the-Middle Attack in APT Package Manager, Update Now

Written By
MN
Marius Nestor
Jan 23, 2019

The security vulnerability was discovered by Max Justicz in the APT package, the high-level package manager used by the Debian GNU/Linux and Ubuntu operating systems, as well as any other derivative, official or unofficial, such as Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, and even the popular Linux Mint. The issue could allow a remote attacker to trick APT into installing malicious packages that pose as valid ones, but which could be used for code execution with administrative (root) privileges after installation to gain control of the vulnerable machine. More details are available for further reading at CVE-2019-3462.

MN

Marius Nestor

Linux Today Logo

LinuxToday is a trusted, contributor-driven news resource supporting all types of Linux users. Our thriving international community engages with us through social media and frequent content contributions aimed at solving problems ranging from personal computing to enterprise-level IT operations. LinuxToday serves as a home for a community that struggles to find comparable information elsewhere on the web.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.