ALAS-2018-939

Related Vulnerabilities: CVE-2017-5715   CVE-2017-5754  

An updated kernel release for Amazon Linux has been made available which prevents speculative execution of indirect branches within the kernel. This release incorporates latest stable open source Linux security improvements to address CVE-2017-5715 within the kernel and builds upon previously incorporated Kernel Page Table Isolation (KPTI) that addressed CVE-2017-5754. Customers must upgrade to the latest Amazon Linux kernel or AMI to effectively mitigate the impact of both CVE-2017-5754 and CVE-2017-5715 on MMU privilege separation (kernel mode vs. user mode) within their instance. Customers with existing Amazon Linux AMI instances should run the following command to ensure they receive the updated package: <i>sudo yum update kernel</i> As is standard per any update of the Linux kernel, after the yum update is complete, a reboot is required for updates to take effect. Please refer to https://aws.amazon.com/security/security-bulletins/AWS-2018-013/ for additional information regarding CVE-2017-5754. Updated on 2018-01-06: Additional KPTI improvements.Updated on 2018-01-09: Updated detailsUpdated on 2018-01-13: Additional fixes for CVE-2017-5715

ALAS-2018-939


Amazon Linux AMI Security Advisory: ALAS-2018-939
Advisory Release Date: 2018-01-03 19:27 Pacific
Advisory Updated Date: 2018-01-16 01:10 Pacific
Severity: Critical

Issue Overview:

An updated kernel release for Amazon Linux has been made available which prevents speculative execution of indirect branches within the kernel. This release incorporates latest stable open source Linux security improvements to address CVE-2017-5715 within the kernel and builds upon previously incorporated Kernel Page Table Isolation (KPTI) that addressed CVE-2017-5754. Customers must upgrade to the latest Amazon Linux kernel or AMI to effectively mitigate the impact of both CVE-2017-5754 and CVE-2017-5715 on MMU privilege separation (kernel mode vs. user mode) within their instance.

Customers with existing Amazon Linux AMI instances should run the following command to ensure they receive the updated package:

<i>sudo yum update kernel</i>

As is standard per any update of the Linux kernel, after the yum update is complete, a reboot is required for updates to take effect.

Please refer to https://aws.amazon.com/security/security-bulletins/AWS-2018-013/ for additional information regarding CVE-2017-5754.

Updated on 2018-01-06: Additional KPTI improvements.
Updated on 2018-01-09: Updated details
Updated on 2018-01-13: Additional fixes for CVE-2017-5715


Affected Packages:

kernel


Issue Correction:
Run yum update kernel to update your system. You will need to reboot your system in order for the new kernel to be running.

New Packages:
i686:
    perf-debuginfo-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.i686
    perf-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.i686
    kernel-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.i686
    kernel-tools-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.i686
    kernel-tools-debuginfo-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.i686
    kernel-devel-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.i686
    kernel-debuginfo-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.i686
    kernel-debuginfo-common-i686-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.i686
    kernel-headers-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.i686
    kernel-tools-devel-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.i686

noarch:
    kernel-doc-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.noarch

src:
    kernel-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.src

x86_64:
    perf-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.x86_64
    kernel-tools-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.x86_64
    kernel-headers-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.x86_64
    kernel-tools-debuginfo-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.x86_64
    kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.x86_64
    kernel-tools-devel-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.x86_64
    kernel-devel-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.x86_64
    kernel-debuginfo-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.x86_64
    perf-debuginfo-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.x86_64
    kernel-4.9.76-3.78.amzn1.x86_64