USN-2978-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities
16 May 2016
Several security issues were fixed in the kernel.
Releases
Packages
- linux - Linux kernel
Details
David Matlack discovered that the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
implementation in the Linux kernel did not properly restrict variable
Memory Type Range Registers (MTRR) in KVM guests. A privileged user in a
guest VM could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) in the
host, expose sensitive information from the host, or possibly gain
administrative privileges in the host. (CVE-2016-3713)
Philip Pettersson discovered that the Linux kernel's ASN.1 DER decoder did
not properly process certificate files with tags of indefinite length. A
local unprivileged attacker could use this to cause a denial of service
(system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code with administrative
privileges. (CVE-2016-0758)
Update instructions
The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:
Ubuntu 15.10
-
linux-image-4.2.0-36-generic-lpae
-
4.2.0-36.42
-
linux-image-4.2.0-36-powerpc64-smp
-
4.2.0-36.42
-
linux-image-4.2.0-36-powerpc64-emb
-
4.2.0-36.42
-
linux-image-4.2.0-36-powerpc-smp
-
4.2.0-36.42
-
linux-image-4.2.0-36-powerpc-e500mc
-
4.2.0-36.42
-
linux-image-4.2.0-36-lowlatency
-
4.2.0-36.42
-
linux-image-4.2.0-36-generic
-
4.2.0-36.42
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.