USN-3444-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

10 October 2017

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

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Releases

Packages

  • linux - Linux kernel
  • linux-aws - Linux kernel for Amazon Web Services (AWS) systems
  • linux-gke - Linux kernel for Google Container Engine (GKE) systems
  • linux-kvm - Linux kernel for cloud environments
  • linux-raspi2 - Linux kernel for Raspberry Pi 2
  • linux-snapdragon - Linux kernel for Snapdragon processors

Details

Jan H. Schönherr discovered that the Xen subsystem did not properly handle
block IO merges correctly in some situations. An attacker in a guest vm
could use this to cause a denial of service (host crash) or possibly gain
administrative privileges in the host. (CVE-2017-12134)

Andrey Konovalov discovered that a divide-by-zero error existed in the TCP
stack implementation in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could use this
to cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2017-14106)

Otto Ebeling discovered that the memory manager in the Linux kernel did not
properly check the effective UID in some situations. A local attacker could
use this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2017-14140)

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Ubuntu Pro provides ten-year security coverage to 25,000+ packages in Main and Universe repositories, and it is free for up to five machines.

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Update instructions

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu 16.04

After a standard system update you need to reboot your computer to make
all the necessary changes.

ATTENTION: Due to an unavoidable ABI change the kernel updates have
been given a new version number, which requires you to recompile and
reinstall all third party kernel modules you might have installed.
Unless you manually uninstalled the standard kernel metapackages
(e.g. linux-generic, linux-generic-lts-RELEASE, linux-virtual,
linux-powerpc), a standard system upgrade will automatically perform
this as well.

References

Related notices

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