USN-5926-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

6 March 2023

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

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Releases

Packages

  • linux - Linux kernel
  • linux-aws - Linux kernel for Amazon Web Services (AWS) systems
  • linux-kvm - Linux kernel for cloud environments
  • linux-lts-xenial - Linux hardware enablement kernel from Xenial for Trusty

Details

Kirill Tkhai discovered that the XFS file system implementation in the
Linux kernel did not calculate size correctly when pre-allocating space in
some situations. A local attacker could use this to expose sensitive
information. (CVE-2021-4155)

Lee Jones discovered that a use-after-free vulnerability existed in the
Bluetooth 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-2022-20566)

Duoming Zhou discovered that a race condition existed in the SLIP driver in
the Linux kernel, leading to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. An
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash).
(CVE-2022-41858)

Tamás Koczka discovered that the Bluetooth L2CAP implementation in the
Linux kernel did not properly initialize memory in some situations. A
physically proximate attacker could possibly use this to expose sensitive
information (kernel memory). (CVE-2022-42895)

José Oliveira and Rodrigo Branco discovered that the prctl syscall
implementation in the Linux kernel did not properly protect against
indirect branch prediction attacks in some situations. A local attacker
could possibly use this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2023-0045)

It was discovered that the RNDIS USB driver in the Linux kernel contained
an integer overflow vulnerability. A local attacker with physical access
could plug in a malicious USB device to cause a denial of service (system
crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2023-23559)

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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 16.04
Ubuntu 14.04

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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