Sunday, Feb. 21 was a bad day for users of Linux Mint as the popular Linux desktop distribution platform announced that its Mint website was hacked. Officials from the company claim that the hackers were able to infect some downloadable ISOs from the website with malicious malwares that could lead to further hack attacks when installed.

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In a statement posted on the official Linux Mint Blog, head Clement Lefebvre wrote, "We were exposed to an intrusion today. It was brief and it shouldn't impact many people."

The hackers were eportedly able to penetrate Linux Mint's computer system and created a modified Linux Mint ISO that includes a backdoor. At the time of this writing, the only confirmed ISO affected by the hack was the Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon edition. The company says it is working to determine whether other versions of the operating system were also affected.

Linux Mint has advised users who downloaded the affected ISO to immediately delete it. The company warned users, who burnt the app into a DVD, to trash the disc and if was burnt into a USB stick, to reformat the stick.

Users who installed the affected ISO have been advised to quickly take their system offline to prevent further attacks. Such users are also advised to backup any personal or important files and then reinstall the operating system with a new unaffected version of Linux Mint or format the partition where the compromised ISO was installed.

Once a a new OS is installed, users are also advised to change their passwords - especially for emails.

The hackers, who goes by the pseudonym Peace, were allegedly able to get into the Linux Mint system via a security flaw in the WordPress plugin. After gaining access into the site, the hackers are said to have modified the download page to redirect users to a rogue download server every time they try to download the 64-bit version of the Linux Mint 17.3.

Tagslinux, Linux hack, Linux Mint hack, Linux Mint website hack, Linux Mint website