USN-4683-1: Linux kernel (OEM) vulnerability

Publication date

7 January 2021

Overview

The system could be made to crash or expose sensitive information under certain conditions.

Releases


Packages

Details

Minh Yuan discovered that the framebuffer console driver in the Linux
kernel did not properly handle fonts in some conditions. A local attacker
could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly
expose sensitive information (kernel memory).

Minh Yuan discovered that the framebuffer console driver in the Linux
kernel did not properly handle fonts in some conditions. A local attacker
could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly
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
20.04 focal linux-image-5.6.0-1039-oem –  5.6.0-1039.43
linux-image-oem-20.04 –  5.6.0.1039.37

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?

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