USN-1215-1: APT vulnerabilities

22 September 2011

An attacker could trick APT into installing altered packages.

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

Releases

Packages

  • apt - Advanced front-end for dpkg

Details

It was discovered that the apt-key utility incorrectly verified GPG
keys when downloaded via the net-update option. If a remote attacker were
able to perform a machine-in-the-middle attack, this flaw could potentially be
used to install altered packages. This update corrects the issue by
disabling the net-update option completely. A future update will re-enable
the option with corrected verification.

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 8.04
Ubuntu 11.04
Ubuntu 10.10
Ubuntu 10.04

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

References

Join the discussion

Need help with your security needs?

Ubuntu Pro provides up to ten-year security coverage for over 23,000 open-source packages within the Ubuntu Main and Universe repositories.

Talk to an expert to find out what would work best for you

Further reading