USN-6865-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

3 July 2024

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-kvm - Linux kernel for cloud environments
  • linux-lts-xenial - Linux hardware enablement kernel from Xenial for Trusty

Details

It was discovered that the ext4 file system implementation in the Linux
kernel did not properly validate data state on write operations. An
attacker could use this to construct a malicious ext4 file system image
that, when mounted, could cause a denial of service (system crash).
(CVE-2021-33631)

It was discovered that the ATA over Ethernet (AoE) driver in the Linux
kernel contained a race condition, leading to a use-after-free
vulnerability. An attacker could use this to cause a denial of service or
possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2023-6270)

Sander Wiebing, Alvise de Faveri Tron, Herbert Bos, and Cristiano Giuffrida
discovered that the Linux kernel mitigations for the initial Branch History
Injection vulnerability (CVE-2022-0001) were insufficient for Intel
processors. A local attacker could potentially use this to expose sensitive
information. (CVE-2024-2201)

Gui-Dong Han discovered that the software RAID driver in the Linux kernel
contained a race condition, leading to an integer overflow vulnerability. A
privileged attacker could possibly use this to cause a denial of service
(system crash). (CVE-2024-23307)

Bai Jiaju discovered that the Xceive XC4000 silicon tuner device driver in
the Linux kernel contained a race condition, leading to an integer overflow
vulnerability. An attacker could possibly use this to cause a denial of
service (system crash). (CVE-2024-24861)

Several security issues were discovered in the Linux kernel.
An attacker could possibly use these to compromise the system.
This update corrects flaws in the following subsystems:

Reduce your security exposure

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.

Learn more about Ubuntu Pro

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.