USN-4945-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

11 May 2021

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-5.4 - Linux kernel for Amazon Web Services (AWS) systems
  • linux-azure - Linux kernel for Microsoft Azure Cloud systems
  • linux-azure-5.4 - Linux kernel for Microsoft Azure cloud systems
  • linux-gcp - Linux kernel for Google Cloud Platform (GCP) systems
  • linux-gcp-5.4 - Linux kernel for Google Cloud Platform (GCP) systems
  • linux-gke - Linux kernel for Google Container Engine (GKE) systems
  • linux-gke-5.4 - Linux kernel for Google Container Engine (GKE) systems
  • linux-gkeop - Linux kernel for Google Container Engine (GKE) systems
  • linux-gkeop-5.4 - Linux kernel for Google Container Engine (GKE) systems
  • linux-hwe-5.4 - Linux hardware enablement (HWE) kernel
  • linux-kvm - Linux kernel for cloud environments
  • linux-oracle - Linux kernel for Oracle Cloud systems
  • linux-oracle-5.4 - Linux kernel for Oracle Cloud systems

Details

It was discovered that the Nouveau GPU driver in the Linux kernel did not
properly handle error conditions in some situations. A local attacker could
use this to cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2020-25639)

Jan Beulich discovered that the Xen netback backend in the Linux kernel did
not properly handle certain error conditions under paravirtualization. An
attacker in a guest VM could possibly use this to cause a denial of service
(host domain crash). (CVE-2021-28038)

It was discovered that the fastrpc driver in the Linux kernel did not
prevent user space applications from sending kernel RPC messages. A local
attacker could possibly use this to gain elevated privileges.
(CVE-2021-28375)

It was discovered that the Realtek RTL8188EU Wireless device driver in the
Linux kernel did not properly validate ssid lengths in some situations. An
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash).
(CVE-2021-28660)

It was discovered that the USB/IP driver in the Linux kernel contained race
conditions during the update of local and shared status. An attacker could
use this to cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2021-29265)

It was discovered that a race condition existed in the netfilter subsystem
of the Linux kernel when replacing tables. A local attacker could use this
to cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2021-29650)

Arnd Bergmann discovered that the video4linux subsystem in the Linux kernel
did not properly deallocate memory in some situations. A local attacker
could use this to cause a denial of service (memory exhaustion).
(CVE-2021-30002)

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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 20.04
Ubuntu 18.04

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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