USN-3718-2: Linux kernel (HWE) regression

21 July 2018

A regression that caused boot failures was fixed in the Linux kernel.

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Releases

Packages

  • linux-azure - Linux kernel for Microsoft Azure Cloud systems
  • linux-gcp - Linux kernel for Google Cloud Platform (GCP) systems
  • linux-hwe - Linux hardware enablement (HWE) kernel

Details

USN-3695-2 fixed vulnerabilities in the Linux Hardware Enablement
Kernel (HWE) kernel for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. Unfortunately, the fix
for CVE-2018-1108 introduced a regression where insufficient early
entropy prevented services from starting, leading in some situations
to a failure to boot, This update addresses the issue.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Original advisory details:

Jann Horn discovered that the Linux kernel’s implementation of random
seed data reported that it was in a ready state before it had gathered
sufficient entropy. An attacker could use this to expose sensitive
information. (CVE-2018-1108)

Wen Xu discovered that the ext4 file system implementation in the Linux
kernel did not properly initialize the crc32c checksum driver. A local
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash).
(CVE-2018-1094)

It was discovered that the cdrom driver in the Linux kernel contained an
incorrect bounds check. A local attacker could use this to expose sensitive
information (kernel memory). (CVE-2018-10940)

Wen Xu discovered that the ext4 file system implementation in the Linux
kernel did not properly validate xattr sizes. A local attacker could use
this to cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2018-1095)

Jann Horn discovered that the 32 bit adjtimex() syscall implementation for
64 bit Linux kernels did not properly initialize memory returned to user
space in some situations. A local attacker could use this to expose
sensitive information (kernel memory). (CVE-2018-11508)

It was discovered that an information leak vulnerability existed in the
floppy driver in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could use this to
expose sensitive information (kernel memory). (CVE-2018-7755)

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

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.