14 DAY TRIAL // Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) has been out for a couple of weeks, and users have already found a way to bypass the newly introduced lock screen. Fortunately, the developers have patched the issue very quickly.
The new lock screen for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS is one of the nicest features of the new release, and many users were pleased to see the old lock screen gone. It seems that these locking functions are always a source of problems, no matter the platform.
Apple had issues with users who managed to bypass the lockscreen of the iPhone, Google has the same issue, and now Ubuntu is having similar problems. The developers are aware of the issues and at least a couple of them have been fixed.
A user reported on Launchpad that he was able to bypass the new lockscreen with a simple method that would basically give anyone access to the computer.
"I found a bug allowing a user to bypass the new lock screen of Ubuntu 14.04. When the screen is locked just right click multiple times on the indicator bar (for example on the battery indicator), then shortcuts are available. Press ALT+F2 and you can execute the command you want on behalf of the logged user," reads the bug report.
This was easily reproducible by anyone who tried it, and the Ubuntu developers quickly released a patch to fix the problem. Unfortunately, this is not the end of it.
Another user found out that he could display the Dash while the lock screen was active, which is obviously a big problem. The same patch that was outed for the previous vulnerability fixed this bug as well.
Even so, one more problem still remains and hasn't been fixed yet. A user says on Launchpad that it is possible to "bypass the lock screen by right clicking on indicators several times and if you had Terminal window opened and focused you can issue commands."
The bug has been confirmed, but the developers haven't started to work on it. However, it's very likely that it will also get fixed really soon. This is not a common issue and it pertains more to security that anything else, which means that it will get the developers’ full attention.
The new lock screen looks great in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, but this is the first implementation of it and bugs are bound to happen. Keep upgrading your system if you want to make sure you're up to date with all the fixes.