1. Ubuntu Security Notices
  2. USN-1533-1

USN-1533-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Publication date

10 August 2012

Overview

Several security issues were fixed in the kernel.

Releases

Packages

Details

An error was discovered in the Linux kernel's network TUN/TAP device
implementation. A local user with access to the TUN/TAP interface (which is
not available to unprivileged users until granted by a root user) could
exploit this flaw to crash the system or potential gain administrative
privileges. (CVE-2012-2136)

Ulrich Obergfell discovered an error in the Linux kernel's memory
management subsystem on 32 bit PAE systems with more than 4GB of memory
installed. A local unprivileged user could exploit this flaw to crash the
system. (CVE-2012-2373)

An error was discovered in the Linux kernel's memory subsystem (hugetlb).
An unprivileged local user could exploit this flaw to cause a denial of
service (crash the system). (CVE-2012-2390)

A flaw was discovered in the Linux kernel's epoll system call....

An error was discovered in the Linux kernel's network TUN/TAP device
implementation. A local user with access to the TUN/TAP interface (which is
not available to unprivileged users until granted by a root user) could
exploit this flaw to crash the system or potential gain administrative
privileges. (CVE-2012-2136)

Ulrich Obergfell discovered an error in the Linux kernel's memory
management subsystem on 32 bit PAE systems with more than 4GB of memory
installed. A local unprivileged user could exploit this flaw to crash the
system. (CVE-2012-2373)

An error was discovered in the Linux kernel's memory subsystem (hugetlb).
An unprivileged local user could exploit this flaw to cause a denial of
service (crash the system). (CVE-2012-2390)

A flaw was discovered in the Linux kernel's epoll system call. An
unprivileged local user could use this flaw to crash the system.
(CVE-2012-3375)

Some errors where discovered in the Linux kernel's UDF file system, which
is used to mount some CD-ROMs and DVDs. An unprivileged local user could
use these flaws to crash the system. (CVE-2012-3400)

A flaw was discovered in the madvise feature of the Linux kernel's memory
subsystem. An unprivileged local use could exploit the flaw to cause a
denial of service (crash the system). (CVE-2012-3511)

Update instructions

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

Learn more about how to get the fixes.

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. If you use linux-restricted-modules, you have to update that package as well to get modules which work with the new kernel version. Unless you manually uninstalled the standard kernel metapackages (e.g. linux-generic, linux-server, linux-powerpc), a standard system upgrade will automatically perform this as well.

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

Ubuntu Release Package Version
11.10 oneiric linux-image-3.0.0-24-powerpc64-smp –  3.0.0-24.40
linux-image-3.0.0-24-virtual –  3.0.0-24.40
linux-image-3.0.0-24-generic –  3.0.0-24.40
linux-image-3.0.0-24-powerpc-smp –  3.0.0-24.40
linux-image-3.0.0-24-omap –  3.0.0-24.40
linux-image-3.0.0-24-powerpc –  3.0.0-24.40
linux-image-3.0.0-24-server –  3.0.0-24.40
linux-image-3.0.0-24-generic-pae –  3.0.0-24.40

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References

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