1. Ubuntu Security Notices
  2. USN-3159-1

USN-3159-1: Linux kernel vulnerability

Publication date

20 December 2016

Overview

The system could be made to expose sensitive information.

Releases

Packages

Details

It was discovered that a race condition existed in the procfs
environ_read function in the Linux kernel, leading to an integer
underflow. A local attacker could use this to expose sensitive
information (kernel memory).

It was discovered that a race condition existed in the procfs
environ_read function in the Linux kernel, leading to an integer
underflow. A local attacker could use this to expose sensitive
information (kernel memory).

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. 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.

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

Ubuntu Release Package Version
12.04 precise linux-image-3.2.0-119-generic-pae –  3.2.0-119.162
linux-image-3.2.0-119-omap –  3.2.0-119.162
linux-image-powerpc-smp –  3.2.0.119.134
linux-image-3.2.0-119-powerpc-smp –  3.2.0-119.162
linux-image-generic-pae –  3.2.0.119.134
linux-image-highbank –  3.2.0.119.134
linux-image-3.2.0-119-powerpc64-smp –  3.2.0-119.162
linux-image-virtual –  3.2.0.119.134
linux-image-powerpc64-smp –  3.2.0.119.134
linux-image-generic –  3.2.0.119.134
linux-image-3.2.0-119-highbank –  3.2.0-119.162
linux-image-3.2.0-119-virtual –  3.2.0-119.162
linux-image-omap –  3.2.0.119.134
linux-image-3.2.0-119-generic –  3.2.0-119.162

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References

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