USN-1105-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Publication date

5 April 2011

Overview

Multiple kernel flaws.

Releases


Packages

Details

Dan Rosenberg discovered that multiple terminal ioctls did not correctly
initialize structure memory. A local attacker could exploit this to read
portions of kernel stack memory, leading to a loss of privacy.
(CVE-2010-4075)

Dan Rosenberg discovered that the socket filters did not correctly
initialize structure memory. A local attacker could create malicious
filters to read portions of kernel stack memory, leading to a loss of
privacy. (CVE-2010-4158)

Dan Rosenberg discovered that certain iovec operations did not calculate
page counts correctly. A local attacker could exploit this to crash the
system, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2010-4162)

Dan Rosenberg discovered that the SCSI subsystem did not correctly validate
iov segments. A local attacker with access to a SCSI device could send
specially...

Dan Rosenberg discovered that multiple terminal ioctls did not correctly
initialize structure memory. A local attacker could exploit this to read
portions of kernel stack memory, leading to a loss of privacy.
(CVE-2010-4075)

Dan Rosenberg discovered that the socket filters did not correctly
initialize structure memory. A local attacker could create malicious
filters to read portions of kernel stack memory, leading to a loss of
privacy. (CVE-2010-4158)

Dan Rosenberg discovered that certain iovec operations did not calculate
page counts correctly. A local attacker could exploit this to crash the
system, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2010-4162)

Dan Rosenberg discovered that the SCSI subsystem did not correctly validate
iov segments. A local attacker with access to a SCSI device could send
specially crafted requests to crash the system, leading to a denial of
service. (CVE-2010-4163, CVE-2010-4668)

Dan Rosenberg discovered multiple flaws in the X.25 facilities parsing. If
a system was using X.25, a remote attacker could exploit this to crash the
system, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2010-4164)

Alan Cox discovered that the HCI UART driver did not correctly check if a
write operation was available. If the mmap_min-addr sysctl was changed from
the Ubuntu default to a value of 0, a local attacker could exploit this
flaw to gain root privileges. (CVE-2010-4242)

Nelson Elhage discovered that the kernel did not correctly handle process
cleanup after triggering a recoverable kernel bug. If a local attacker were
able to trigger certain kinds of kernel bugs, they could create a specially
crafted process to gain root privileges. (CVE-2010-4258)

Tavis Ormandy discovered that the install_special_mapping function could
bypass the mmap_min_addr restriction. A local attacker could exploit this
to mmap 4096 bytes below the mmap_min_addr area, possibly improving the
chances of performing NULL pointer dereference attacks. (CVE-2010-4346)


Update instructions

After a standard system update you need to reboot your computer to make all the necessary changes.

Learn more about how to get the fixes.

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. If you use linux-restricted-modules, you have to update that package as well to get modules which work with the new kernel version. Unless you manually uninstalled the standard kernel metapackages (e.g. linux-generic, linux-server, linux-powerpc), a standard system upgrade will automatically perform this as well.

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


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.


Have additional questions?

Talk to a member of the team ›