A number of servers in the kernel.org infrastructure were compromised earlier this month. The infection occurred no later than August 12 and wasn’t detected for another 17 days. The systems were infected by an off-the-shelf, a self-injecting rootkit known as Phalanx that has attacked sensitive Linux systems before. The source code repositories were unaffected, but we are in the process of verifying this and taking steps to enhance security across the kernel.org infrastructure. We have notified authorities in the United States and in Europe to assist with the investigation.
Source: https://thehackernews.com/2011/09/kernelorg-server-rooted-and-448-users.html