@arstechnica do y'all know the difference between a kernel backdoor and an userland backdoor is? You had me until the windows part, but hell did you scare me lol. Is it that hard to do proper reporting? Let me dumb it down... A linux kernel backdoor lives in the upstream linux source code, and can be triggered in any linux system. What you're describing is userland malware that once it infects a computer, escalates privileges and awaits for remote instructions; a.k.a a zombie bot.