[jimjohn]

So are they saying only local access as root can make this happen?

I’m gonna pass this on to my peeps on the job. But there are tons of ways of killing your linux server as root. Doesn’t require and exploit; just bad command line statements.

[proxy_user]

No, local access as a non-root account, seeking to gain root access. Historically, there have been many ways to do this, but these holes have gradually been plugged.

[zeugma]

Doesn’t require and exploit; just bad command line statements.

Doesn't even have to be on purpose. Been there done that.