USN-3930-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

2 April 2019

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

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

  • linux - Linux kernel
  • linux-aws - Linux kernel for Amazon Web Services (AWS) systems
  • linux-azure - Linux kernel for Microsoft Azure Cloud systems
  • linux-gcp - Linux kernel for Google Cloud Platform (GCP) systems
  • linux-kvm - Linux kernel for cloud environments
  • linux-raspi2 - Linux kernel for Raspberry Pi 2

Details

Mathias Payer and Hui Peng discovered a use-after-free vulnerability in the
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) subsystem. A physically proximate
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash).
(CVE-2018-19824)

Shlomi Oberman, Yuli Shapiro, and Ran Menscher discovered an information
leak in the Bluetooth implementation of the Linux kernel. An attacker
within Bluetooth range could use this to expose sensitive information
(kernel memory). (CVE-2019-3459, CVE-2019-3460)

Jann Horn discovered that the KVM implementation in the Linux kernel
contained a use-after-free vulnerability. An attacker in a guest VM with
access to /dev/kvm could use this to cause a denial of service (guest VM
crash). (CVE-2019-6974)

Jim Mattson and Felix Wilhelm discovered a use-after-free vulnerability in
the KVM subsystem of the Linux kernel, when using nested virtual machines.
A local attacker in a guest VM could use this to cause a denial of service
(system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code in the host system.
(CVE-2019-7221)

Felix Wilhelm discovered that an information leak vulnerability existed in
the KVM subsystem of the Linux kernel, when nested virtualization is used.
A local attacker could use this to expose sensitive information (host
system memory to a guest VM). (CVE-2019-7222)

Jann Horn discovered that the eBPF implementation in the Linux kernel was
insufficiently hardened against Spectre V1 attacks. A local attacker could
use this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2019-7308)

It was discovered that a use-after-free vulnerability existed in the user-
space API for crypto (af_alg) implementation in the Linux kernel. A local
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or
possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2019-8912)

Jakub Jirasek discovered a use-after-free vulnerability in the SCTP
implementation in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could use this to
cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary
code. (CVE-2019-8956)

It was discovered that the Linux kernel did not properly deallocate memory
when handling certain errors while reading files. A local attacker could
use this to cause a denial of service (excessive memory consumption).
(CVE-2019-8980)

It was discovered that a use-after-free vulnerability existed in the IPMI
implementation in the Linux kernel. A local attacker with access to the
IPMI character device files could use this to cause a denial of service
(system crash). (CVE-2019-9003)

Jann Horn discovered that the SNMP NAT implementation in the Linux kernel
performed insufficient ASN.1 length checks. An attacker could use this to
cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary
code. (CVE-2019-9162)

Jann Horn discovered that the mmap implementation in the Linux kernel did
not properly check for the mmap minimum address in some situations. A local
attacker could use this to assist exploiting a kernel NULL pointer
dereference vulnerability. (CVE-2019-9213)

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 18.10

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

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