USN-2596-1: Linux kernel vulnerability
5 May 2015
The system could be made to run programs as an administrator.
Releases
Packages
- linux - Linux kernel
Details
A race condition between chown() and execve() was discovered in the Linux
kernel. A local attacker could exploit this race by using chown on a
setuid-user-binary to gain administrative privileges.
Update instructions
The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:
Ubuntu 12.04
-
linux-image-3.2.0-83-omap
-
3.2.0-83.120
-
linux-image-3.2.0-83-powerpc-smp
-
3.2.0-83.120
-
linux-image-3.2.0-83-highbank
-
3.2.0-83.120
-
linux-image-3.2.0-83-powerpc64-smp
-
3.2.0-83.120
-
linux-image-3.2.0-83-generic-pae
-
3.2.0-83.120
-
linux-image-3.2.0-83-virtual
-
3.2.0-83.120
-
linux-image-3.2.0-83-generic
-
3.2.0-83.120
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. If
you use linux-restricted-modules, you have to update that package as
well to get modules which work with the new kernel version. Unless you
manually uninstalled the standard kernel metapackages (e.g. linux-generic,
linux-server, linux-powerpc), a standard system upgrade will automatically
perform this as well.