USN-618-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

19 June 2008

Linux kernel vulnerabilities

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Releases

Packages

Details

It was discovered that the ALSA /proc interface did not write the
correct number of bytes when reporting memory allocations. A local
attacker might be able to access sensitive kernel memory, leading to
a loss of privacy. (CVE-2007-4571)

Multiple buffer overflows were discovered in the handling of CIFS
filesystems. A malicious CIFS server could cause a client system crash
or possibly execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. (CVE-2007-5904)

It was discovered that PowerPC kernels did not correctly handle reporting
certain system details. By requesting a specific set of information,
a local attacker could cause a system crash resulting in a denial
of service. (CVE-2007-6694)

It was discovered that some device driver fault handlers did not
correctly verify memory ranges. A local attacker could exploit this
to access sensitive kernel memory, possibly leading to a loss of privacy.
(CVE-2008-0007)

It was discovered that CPU resource limits could be bypassed.
A malicious local user could exploit this to avoid administratively
imposed resource limits. (CVE-2008-1294)

A race condition was discovered between dnotify fcntl() and close() in
the kernel. If a local attacker performed malicious dnotify requests,
they could cause memory consumption leading to a denial of service,
or possibly send arbitrary signals to any process. (CVE-2008-1375)

On SMP systems, a race condition existed in fcntl(). Local attackers
could perform malicious locks, causing system crashes and leading to
a denial of service. (CVE-2008-1669)

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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 7.10
Ubuntu 7.04
Ubuntu 6.06

After a standard system upgrade you need to reboot your computer to
effect 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. If
you use linux-restricted-modules, you have to update that package as
well to get modules which work with the new kernel version. Unless you
manually uninstalled the standard kernel metapackages (e.g. linux-386,
linux-powerpc, linux-amd64-generic), a standard system upgrade will
automatically perform this as well.

References

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