python-psutil vulnerability

28 November 2019

python-psutil vulnerability

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

• Ubuntu 19.10
• Ubuntu 19.04
• Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
• Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

Summary

psutil could be made to crash or run programs.

Software Description

• python-psutil - module providing convenience functions for managing processes

Details

Riccardo Schirone discovered that psutil incorrectly handled certain reference counting operations. An attacker could use this issue to cause psutil to crash, resulting in a denial of service, or possibly execute arbitrary code.

Update instructions

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

Ubuntu 19.10

python-psutil - 5.5.1-1ubuntu0.19.10.1

python3-psutil - 5.5.1-1ubuntu0.19.10.1

Ubuntu 19.04

python-psutil - 5.5.1-1ubuntu0.19.04.1

python3-psutil - 5.5.1-1ubuntu0.19.04.1

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

python-psutil - 5.4.2-1ubuntu0.1

python3-psutil - 5.4.2-1ubuntu0.1

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

python-psutil - 3.4.2-1ubuntu0.1

python3-psutil - 3.4.2-1ubuntu0.1

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

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

References

• CVE-2019-18874