Log into Most Any Linux System by Hitting Backspace 28 Times

Log into Most Any Linux System by Hitting Backspace 28 Times
24-25-26-27-28? That's the kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage!

Security researchers have discovered a ludicrously simple way to hack into a number of Linux distributions: Just tap the backspace key 28 times in a row. A team from the Cybersecurity Group at Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) in Spain found that doing so for builds utilizing the ubiquitous Grub2 bootloader -- that's to say just about all of them -- immediately bypasses the lock screen, initiates the "Grub rescue shell" and grants the user access to the system for whatever nefarious things they have in mind.

The team found that the backspace trick triggers a memory error, which in turn launches the rescue shell. The bug isn't a huge threat -- I mean, a hacker would need physical access to your machine in order to exploit it -- especially now that Ubuntu, Red Hat, and Debian all have released patches.

That reminds me of a bug in a computer system I found when I worked in fast food. It was the "back office" system. I entered a password that I used at home which contained a parenthesis. It gave an error, and promptly logged me in with full admin rights. I reported it to my manager and the higher-ups accused me of hacking the system. I told them I entered it out of habit. I'm not sure if they believed me about how I found it, but they made me sign something saying I wouldn't tell anybody else about it and then rolled out a patch.

For the record, I actually entered the other password just to see what would happen. I have no idea what possessed me to use that password, but it was an early sign that I was destined for a career in software QA.