USN-6312-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

28 August 2023

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

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Releases

Packages

  • linux-gke - Linux kernel for Google Container Engine (GKE) systems
  • linux-ibm-5.4 - Linux kernel for IBM cloud systems

Details

It was discovered that the netlink implementation in the Linux kernel did
not properly validate policies when parsing attributes in some situations.
An attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (infinite
recursion). (CVE-2020-36691)

Billy Jheng Bing Jhong discovered that the CIFS network file system
implementation in the Linux kernel did not properly validate arguments to
ioctl() in some situations. A local attacker could possibly use this to
cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2022-0168)

It was discovered that the ext4 file system implementation in the Linux
kernel contained a use-after-free vulnerability. An attacker could use this
to construct a malicious ext4 file system image that, when mounted, could
cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2022-1184)

It was discovered that some AMD x86-64 processors with SMT enabled could
speculatively execute instructions using a return address from a sibling
thread. A local attacker could possibly use this to expose sensitive
information. (CVE-2022-27672)

William Zhao discovered that the Traffic Control (TC) subsystem in the
Linux kernel did not properly handle network packet retransmission in
certain situations. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of
service (kernel deadlock). (CVE-2022-4269)

It was discovered that a race condition existed in the qdisc implementation
in the Linux kernel, leading to a use-after-free vulnerability. A local
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or
possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2023-0590)

It was discovered that a race condition existed in the btrfs file system
implementation in the Linux kernel, leading to a use-after-free
vulnerability. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service
(system crash) or possibly expose sensitive information. (CVE-2023-1611)

It was discovered that the APM X-Gene SoC hardware monitoring driver in the
Linux kernel contained a race condition, leading to a use-after-free
vulnerability. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service
(system crash) or expose sensitive information (kernel memory).
(CVE-2023-1855)

It was discovered that the ST NCI NFC driver did not properly handle device
removal events. A physically proximate attacker could use this to cause a
denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2023-1990)

It was discovered that the XFS file system implementation in the Linux
kernel did not properly perform metadata validation when mounting certain
images. An attacker could use this to specially craft a file system image
that, when mounted, could cause a denial of service (system crash).
(CVE-2023-2124)

It was discovered that the SLIMpro I2C device driver in the Linux kernel
did not properly validate user-supplied data in some situations, leading to
an out-of-bounds write vulnerability. A privileged attacker could use this
to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary
code. (CVE-2023-2194)

It was discovered that a race condition existed in the TLS subsystem in the
Linux kernel, leading to a use-after-free or a null pointer dereference
vulnerability. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service
(system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2023-28466)

It was discovered that the DA9150 charger driver in the Linux kernel did
not properly handle device removal, leading to a user-after free
vulnerability. A physically proximate attacker could use this to cause a
denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code.
(CVE-2023-30772)

It was discovered that the btrfs file system implementation in the Linux
kernel did not properly handle error conditions in some situations, leading
to a use-after-free vulnerability. A local attacker could possibly use this
to cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2023-3111)

It was discovered that the Ricoh R5C592 MemoryStick card reader driver in
the Linux kernel contained a race condition during module unload, leading
to a use-after-free vulnerability. A local attacker could use this to cause
a denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code.
(CVE-2023-3141)

It was discovered that the Qualcomm EMAC ethernet driver in the Linux
kernel did not properly handle device removal, leading to a user-after free
vulnerability. A physically proximate attacker could use this to cause a
denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code.
(CVE-2023-33203)

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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 20.04
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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