python-apt vulnerabilities

23 January 2020

python-apt vulnerabilities

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

• Ubuntu 14.04 ESM
• Ubuntu 12.04 ESM

Summary

Several security issues were fixed in python-apt.

Software Description

• python-apt - Python interface to libapt-pkg

Details

USN-4247-1 fixed several vulnerabilities in python-apt. This update provides the corresponding updates for Ubuntu 12.04 ESM and Ubuntu 14.04 ESM.

Original advisory details:

It was discovered that python-apt would still use MD5 hashes to validate certain downloaded packages. If a remote attacker were able to perform a man-in-the-middle attack, this flaw could potentially be used to install altered packages. (CVE-2019-15795)

It was discovered that python-apt could install packages from untrusted repositories, contrary to expectations. (CVE-2019-15796)

Update instructions

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

Ubuntu 14.04 ESM

python-apt - 0.9.3.5ubuntu3+esm2

python3-apt - 0.9.3.5ubuntu3+esm2

Ubuntu 12.04 ESM

python-apt - 0.8.3ubuntu7.5

python3-apt - 0.8.3ubuntu7.5

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

• USN-4247-1
• CVE-2019-15795
• CVE-2019-15796