USN-6544-1: GNU binutils vulnerabilities

11 December 2023

Several security issues were fixed in GNU binutils.

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Releases

Packages

  • binutils - GNU assembler, linker and binary utilities

Details

It was discovered that GNU binutils incorrectly handled certain COFF files.
An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a crash or execute
arbitrary code. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. (CVE-2022-38533)

It was discovered that GNU binutils was not properly performing bounds
checks in several functions, which could lead to a buffer overflow. An
attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service,
expose sensitive information or execute arbitrary code. This issue only
affected Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
(CVE-2022-4285, CVE-2020-19726, CVE-2021-46174)

It was discovered that GNU binutils contained a reachable assertion, which
could lead to an intentional assertion failure when processing certain
crafted DWARF files. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a
denial of service. This issue only affected Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. (CVE-2022-35205)

Reduce your security exposure

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 22.04
Ubuntu 20.04
Ubuntu 14.04

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

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