The flaw is in WICD, an open source utility that can be used to manage networks in Linux operating systems. It was discovered by a student taking part in an InfoSec Institute Ethical Hacking class. The flaw was discovered in a component known as the Wireless Interface Connection Daemon. The Infosec Institute has created a patch for the privilege escalation hole, as well as a proof of concept exploit. Backtrack Linux is widely used by security professionals for penetration testing of networks.
Source: https://threatpost.com/critical-flaw-found-wicd-component-some-versions-linux-041112/76435/