1. Ubuntu Security Notices
  2. USN-1775-1

USN-1775-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Publication date

22 March 2013

Overview

Several security issues were fixed in the kernel.

Releases

Packages

Details

A flaw was reported in the permission checks done by the Linux kernel for
/dev/cpu/*/msr. A local root user with all capabilities dropped could
exploit this flaw to execute code with full root capabilities.
(CVE-2013-0268)

A flaw was discovered in the Linux kernels handling of memory ranges with
PROT_NONE when transparent hugepages are in use. An unprivileged local user
could exploit this flaw to cause a denial of service (crash the system).
(CVE-2013-0309)

A flaw was discovered on the Linux kernel's VFAT filesystem driver when a
disk is mounted with the utf8 option (this is the default on Ubuntu). On a
system where disks/images can be auto-mounted or a FAT filesystem is
mounted an unprivileged user can exploit the flaw to gain root privileges.
(CVE-2013-1773)

A flaw was reported in the permission checks done by the Linux kernel for
/dev/cpu/*/msr. A local root user with all capabilities dropped could
exploit this flaw to execute code with full root capabilities.
(CVE-2013-0268)

A flaw was discovered in the Linux kernels handling of memory ranges with
PROT_NONE when transparent hugepages are in use. An unprivileged local user
could exploit this flaw to cause a denial of service (crash the system).
(CVE-2013-0309)

A flaw was discovered on the Linux kernel's VFAT filesystem driver when a
disk is mounted with the utf8 option (this is the default on Ubuntu). On a
system where disks/images can be auto-mounted or a FAT filesystem is
mounted an unprivileged user can exploit the flaw to gain root privileges.
(CVE-2013-1773)

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:

Ubuntu Release Package Version
10.04 lucid linux-image-2.6.32-46-sparc64 –  2.6.32-46.105
linux-image-2.6.32-46-generic –  2.6.32-46.105
linux-image-2.6.32-46-virtual –  2.6.32-46.105
linux-image-2.6.32-46-powerpc –  2.6.32-46.105
linux-image-2.6.32-46-generic-pae –  2.6.32-46.105
linux-image-2.6.32-46-powerpc64-smp –  2.6.32-46.105
linux-image-2.6.32-46-preempt –  2.6.32-46.105
linux-image-2.6.32-46-server –  2.6.32-46.105
linux-image-2.6.32-46-lpia –  2.6.32-46.105
linux-image-2.6.32-46-ia64 –  2.6.32-46.105
linux-image-2.6.32-46-versatile –  2.6.32-46.105
linux-image-2.6.32-46-powerpc-smp –  2.6.32-46.105
linux-image-2.6.32-46-386 –  2.6.32-46.105
linux-image-2.6.32-46-sparc64-smp –  2.6.32-46.105

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References

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