How To Check If Your Mac or Linux Machine Is Vulnerable to Shellshock

Article by Thorin Klosowski

Shellshock, the newly discovered vulnerability that allows attackers to inject code into your machine, puts your Mac or Linux at a serious risk for malicious attacks. Here’s how to test if your machine is vulnerable.

You can test your system by running this test command from Terminal:

env x='() { :;}; echo vulnerable' bash -c 'echo hello'

If you’re not vulnerable, you’ll get this result:

bash: warning: x: ignoring function definition attempt bash: error importing function definition for `x' hello

If you are vulnerable, you’ll get:

vulnerable hello

You can also check the version of bash you’re running by entering:

bash --version

If you get version 3.2.51(1)-release as a result, you’ll need to update. Many Linux distributions already have patches available, so you can follow these instructions to update your system.Update: Mac users now have patch available from Apple. You can download and install it here.