USN-4708-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

28 January 2021

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

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Releases

Packages

Details

Wen Xu discovered that the XFS filesystem implementation in the Linux
kernel did not properly track inode validations. An attacker could use this
to construct a malicious XFS image that, when mounted, could cause a denial
of service (system crash). (CVE-2018-13093)

It was discovered that the btrfs file system implementation in the Linux
kernel did not properly validate file system metadata in some situations.
An attacker could use this to construct a malicious btrfs image that, when
mounted, could cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2019-19813,
CVE-2019-19816)

Bodong Zhao discovered a use-after-free in the Sun keyboard driver
implementation in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could use this to
cause a denial of service or possibly execute arbitrary code.
(CVE-2020-25669)

Daniel Axtens discovered that PowerPC RTAS implementation in the Linux
kernel did not properly restrict memory accesses in some situations. A
privileged local attacker could use this to arbitrarily modify kernel
memory, potentially bypassing kernel lockdown restrictions.
(CVE-2020-27777)

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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
Ubuntu 14.04

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

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