Fix Dirty COW on Raspberry Pi
By Russell Barnes. Posted
Here’s how to quickly and easily remove the Linux Kernel vulnerability Dirty COW from Raspbian
You may have seen in the news recently about a bug in the Linux Kernel called Dirty COW – it’s a vulnerability that effects the ‘copy-on-write’ mechanism in Linux, aka COW. This exploit can be used to gain full control over a device running a version of Linux; this includes Android phones, web servers, and even the Raspberry Pi.
How to fix it
You don’t need to worry though as a patch for Raspbian Jessie to fix Dirty COW has already been released, and you can get it right now. Open up the terminal and type the following:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install raspberrypi-kernel
Once the install is done, make sure to reboot your Raspberry Pi and you'll be Dirty COW free!
Russell runs Raspberry Pi Press, which includes The MagPi, Hello World, HackSpace magazine, and book projects. He’s a massive sci-fi bore.
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