USN-5385-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

21 April 2022

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-aws-hwe - Linux kernel for Amazon Web Services (AWS-HWE) systems
  • linux-azure - Linux kernel for Microsoft Azure Cloud systems
  • linux-azure-4.15 - Linux kernel for Microsoft Azure Cloud systems
  • linux-dell300x - Linux kernel for Dell 300x platforms
  • linux-gcp - Linux kernel for Google Cloud Platform (GCP) systems
  • linux-gcp-4.15 - Linux kernel for Google Cloud Platform (GCP) systems
  • linux-hwe - Linux hardware enablement (HWE) kernel
  • linux-kvm - Linux kernel for cloud environments
  • linux-oracle - Linux kernel for Oracle Cloud systems
  • linux-snapdragon - Linux kernel for Qualcomm Snapdragon processors

Details

Brendan Dolan-Gavitt discovered that the aQuantia AQtion Ethernet device
driver in the Linux kernel did not properly validate meta-data coming from
the device. A local attacker who can control an emulated device can use
this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute
arbitrary code. (CVE-2021-43975)

It was discovered that the UDF file system implementation in the Linux
kernel could attempt to dereference a null pointer in some situations. An
attacker could use this to construct a malicious UDF image that, when
mounted and operated on, could cause a denial of service (system crash).
(CVE-2022-0617)

Lyu Tao discovered that the NFS implementation in the Linux kernel did not
properly handle requests to open a directory on a regular file. A local
attacker could use this to expose sensitive information (kernel memory).
(CVE-2022-24448)

It was discovered that the YAM AX.25 device driver in the Linux kernel did
not properly deallocate memory in some error conditions. A local privileged
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (kernel memory
exhaustion). (CVE-2022-24959)

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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 18.04
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

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