USN-4709-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

2 February 2021

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

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Releases

Packages

  • linux-aws - Linux kernel for Amazon Web Services (AWS) systems
  • linux-kvm - Linux kernel for cloud environments
  • linux-raspi2 - Linux kernel for Raspberry Pi (V8) systems
  • linux-snapdragon - Linux kernel for Qualcomm Snapdragon processors

Details

It was discovered that the LIO SCSI target implementation in the Linux
kernel performed insufficient identifier checking in certain XCOPY
requests. An attacker with access to at least one LUN in a multiple
backstore environment could use this to expose sensitive information or
modify data. (CVE-2020-28374)

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)

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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

Related notices

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