USN-6549-2: Linux kernel (GKE) vulnerabilities

12 December 2023

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

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Releases

Packages

  • linux-gkeop - Linux kernel for Google Container Engine (GKE) systems
  • linux-gkeop-5.15 - Linux kernel for Google Container Engine (GKE) systems

Details

It was discovered that the USB subsystem in the Linux kernel contained a
race condition while handling device descriptors in certain situations,
leading to a out-of-bounds read vulnerability. A local attacker could
possibly use this to cause a denial of service (system crash).
(CVE-2023-37453)

Lin Ma discovered that the Netlink Transformation (XFRM) subsystem in the
Linux kernel did not properly initialize a policy data structure, leading
to an out-of-bounds vulnerability. A local privileged attacker could use
this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly expose
sensitive information (kernel memory). (CVE-2023-3773)

Lucas Leong discovered that the netfilter subsystem in the Linux kernel did
not properly validate some attributes passed from userspace. A local
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or
possibly expose sensitive information (kernel memory). (CVE-2023-39189)

Sunjoo Park discovered that the netfilter subsystem in the Linux kernel did
not properly validate u32 packets content, leading to an out-of-bounds read
vulnerability. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service
(system crash) or possibly expose sensitive information. (CVE-2023-39192)

Lucas Leong discovered that the netfilter subsystem in the Linux kernel did
not properly validate SCTP data, leading to an out-of-bounds read
vulnerability. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service
(system crash) or possibly expose sensitive information. (CVE-2023-39193)

Lucas Leong discovered that the Netlink Transformation (XFRM) subsystem in
the Linux kernel did not properly handle state filters, leading to an out-
of-bounds read vulnerability. A privileged local attacker could use this to
cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly expose sensitive
information. (CVE-2023-39194)

It was discovered that a race condition existed in QXL virtual GPU driver
in the Linux kernel, leading to a use after free vulnerability. A local
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or
possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2023-39198)

Kyle Zeng discovered that the IPv4 implementation in the Linux kernel did
not properly handle socket buffers (skb) when performing IP routing in
certain circumstances, leading to a null pointer dereference vulnerability.
A privileged attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system
crash). (CVE-2023-42754)

Jason Wang discovered that the virtio ring implementation in the Linux
kernel did not properly handle iov buffers in some situations. A local
attacker in a guest VM could use this to cause a denial of service (host
system crash). (CVE-2023-5158)

Alon Zahavi discovered that the NVMe-oF/TCP subsystem in the Linux kernel
did not properly handle queue initialization failures in certain
situations, leading to a use-after-free vulnerability. A remote attacker
could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly
execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2023-5178)

Budimir Markovic discovered that the perf subsystem in the Linux kernel did
not properly handle event groups, leading to an out-of-bounds write
vulnerability. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service
(system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2023-5717)

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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 22.04
Ubuntu 20.04

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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