USN-4614-1: GDM vulnerability

3 November 2020

GDM could be made to create privileged users.

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Releases

Packages

  • gdm3 - GNOME Display Manager

Details

Kevin Backhouse discovered that GDM incorrectly launched the initial setup
tool when the accountsservice daemon was not reachable. A local attacker
able to cause accountsservice to crash or stop responding could trick GDM
into launching the initial setup tool and create a privileged user.

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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.

Learn more about Ubuntu Pro

Update instructions

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu 20.10
Ubuntu 20.04
Ubuntu 18.04

After a standard system update you need to reboot your computer to make
all the necessary changes.

References

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Further reading