linux vulnerabilities

Related Vulnerabilities: CVE-2018-15594   CVE-2018-15572   CVE-2018-14634   CVE-2018-14633   CVE-2018-6554   CVE-2018-6555  

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

It was discovered that the paravirtualization implementation in the Linux kernel did not properly handle some indirect calls, reducing the effectiveness of Spectre v2 mitigations for paravirtual guests. A local attacker could use this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2018-15594)

1 October 2018

linux vulnerabilities

A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:

  • Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

Summary

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

Software Description

  • linux - Linux kernel

Details

It was discovered that the paravirtualization implementation in the Linux kernel did not properly handle some indirect calls, reducing the effectiveness of Spectre v2 mitigations for paravirtual guests. A local attacker could use this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2018-15594)

It was discovered that microprocessors utilizing speculative execution and prediction of return addresses via Return Stack Buffer (RSB) may allow unauthorized memory reads via sidechannel attacks. An attacker could use this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2018-15572)

It was discovered that an integer overflow vulnerability existed in the Linux kernel when loading an executable to run. A local attacker could use this to gain administrative privileges. (CVE-2018-14634)

It was discovered that a stack-based buffer overflow existed in the iSCSI target implementation of the Linux kernel. A remote attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2018-14633)

It was discovered that a memory leak existed in the IRDA subsystem of the Linux kernel. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (kernel memory exhaustion). (CVE-2018-6554)

It was discovered that a use-after-free vulnerability existed in the IRDA 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-2018-6555)

Update instructions

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
linux-image-3.13.0-160-generic - 3.13.0-160.210
linux-image-3.13.0-160-generic-lpae - 3.13.0-160.210
linux-image-3.13.0-160-lowlatency - 3.13.0-160.210
linux-image-3.13.0-160-powerpc-e500 - 3.13.0-160.210
linux-image-3.13.0-160-powerpc-e500mc - 3.13.0-160.210
linux-image-3.13.0-160-powerpc-smp - 3.13.0-160.210
linux-image-3.13.0-160-powerpc64-emb - 3.13.0-160.210
linux-image-3.13.0-160-powerpc64-smp - 3.13.0-160.210
linux-image-generic - 3.13.0.160.170
linux-image-generic-lpae - 3.13.0.160.170
linux-image-lowlatency - 3.13.0.160.170
linux-image-powerpc-e500 - 3.13.0.160.170
linux-image-powerpc-e500mc - 3.13.0.160.170
linux-image-powerpc-smp - 3.13.0.160.170
linux-image-powerpc64-emb - 3.13.0.160.170
linux-image-powerpc64-smp - 3.13.0.160.170

To update your system, please follow these instructions: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Security/Upgrades.

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