An upgrade has been issued for the Linux kernel to address two security flaws identified as serious. Marcelo Tosatti, who maintains the Linux 2.4 kernel series, said the security vulnerabilities of the older version pose significant risks to users and they should upgrade to the new kernel as soon as possible. One of the flaws fixed by the new kernel allows a hacker to change the privileges of a user account to those of the system's owner; the other flaw exposes some of the kernel's memory to intruders. Improvements to the 2.4 series kernel have otherwise been halted in an effort to encourage users to upgrade to the next series, the 2.6 kernel.
