A COMPUTER mega bug has been discovered that could leave hundreds of thousands of devices and apps at risk of "catastrophic" hacking.
Experts at Google have found a flaw in some commonly used code, which can be exploited to allow remote access to devices including computers and routers.
The code is also found within many major parts of the web, including programming languages and systems used when logging in to sites or accessing email, the BBC reported.
The major bug could potentially affect hundreds of thousands of devices, apps and services but — due to its nature — experts do not yet know how serious the problem is.
Security expect Prof Alan Woodward, from the University of Surrey, told the BBC: "Many people are running around right now trying to work out if this is truly catastrophic or whether we have dodged a bullet."
The computer bug is found in glibc, which is an open-source library of code widely used in internet-connected devices, and has been around since 2008, according to the BBC.
A function of glibc is domain look-up, where a regular web address is accessed using a corresponding IP address.
An engineer at Google discovered that the domain look-up code in glibc contains a bug that could allow hackers to implant code within a device's memory, allowing hacking attacks.
Security researcher Kenneth White told Ars Technica : "It's not a sky-is-falling scenario.
"But it's true there's a very real prospect that a sizable portion of internet-facing services are at risk for hackers to crash, or worse, run remote code to attack others."
Google has released a patch to fix the problem, it said in a blog post .
