USN-4887-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

23 March 2021

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

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Releases

Packages

Details

De4dCr0w of 360 Alpha Lab discovered that the BPF verifier in the Linux
kernel did not properly handle mod32 destination register truncation when
the source register was known to be 0. A local attacker could use this to
expose sensitive information (kernel memory) or possibly execute arbitrary
code. (CVE-2021-3444)

Adam Nichols discovered that heap overflows existed in the iSCSI subsystem
in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of
service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2021-27365)

Piotr Krysiuk discovered that the BPF subsystem in the Linux kernel did not
properly compute a speculative execution limit on pointer arithmetic in
some situations. A local attacker could use this to expose sensitive
information (kernel memory). (CVE-2020-27171)

Piotr Krysiuk discovered that the BPF subsystem in the Linux kernel did not
properly apply speculative execution limits on some pointer types. A local
attacker could use this to expose sensitive information (kernel memory).
(CVE-2020-27170)

Adam Nichols discovered that the iSCSI subsystem in the Linux kernel did
not properly restrict access to iSCSI transport handles. A local attacker
could use this to cause a denial of service or expose sensitive information
(kernel pointer addresses). (CVE-2021-27363)

Adam Nichols discovered that an out-of-bounds read existed in the iSCSI
subsystem in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could use this to cause a
denial of service (system crash) or expose sensitive information (kernel
memory). (CVE-2021-27364)

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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.

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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.

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

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