USN-5980-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

28 March 2023

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-azure - Linux kernel for Microsoft Azure Cloud systems
  • linux-gcp - Linux kernel for Google Cloud Platform (GCP) systems
  • linux-gke - Linux kernel for Google Container Engine (GKE) systems
  • linux-gkeop - Linux kernel for Google Container Engine (GKE) systems
  • linux-ibm - Linux kernel for IBM cloud systems
  • linux-kvm - Linux kernel for cloud environments
  • linux-oracle - Linux kernel for Oracle Cloud systems
  • linux-raspi - Linux kernel for Raspberry Pi systems

Details

It was discovered that the System V IPC implementation in the Linux kernel
did not properly handle large shared memory counts. A local attacker could
use this to cause a denial of service (memory exhaustion). (CVE-2021-3669)

It was discovered that the KVM VMX implementation in the Linux kernel did
not properly handle indirect branch prediction isolation between L1 and L2
VMs. An attacker in a guest VM could use this to expose sensitive
information from the host OS or other guest VMs. (CVE-2022-2196)

Gerald Lee discovered that the USB Gadget file system implementation in the
Linux kernel contained a race condition, leading to a use-after-free
vulnerability in some situations. A local attacker could use this to cause
a denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code.
(CVE-2022-4382)

It was discovered that the RNDIS USB driver in the Linux kernel contained
an integer overflow vulnerability. A local attacker with physical access
could plug in a malicious USB device to cause a denial of service (system
crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2023-23559)

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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 20.04

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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