USN-2887-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

2 February 2016

Several security issues were fixed in the kernel.

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Releases

Packages

Details

It was discovered that a use-after-free vulnerability existed in the
AF_UNIX implementation in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could use
crafted epoll_ctl calls to cause a denial of service (system crash) or
expose sensitive information. (CVE-2013-7446)

It was discovered that the KVM implementation in the Linux kernel did not
properly restore the values of the Programmable Interrupt Timer (PIT). A
user-assisted attacker in a KVM guest could cause a denial of service in
the host (system crash). (CVE-2015-7513)

Sasha Levin discovered that the Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS)
implementation in the Linux kernel had a race condition when checking
whether a socket was bound or not. A local attacker could use this to cause
a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2015-7990)

It was discovered that the Btrfs implementation in the Linux kernel
incorrectly handled compressed inline extants on truncation. A local
attacker could use this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2015-8374)

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Update instructions

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

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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