USN-4204-1: psutil vulnerability

Releases

• Ubuntu 19.10
• Ubuntu 19.04
• Ubuntu 18.04 ESM
• Ubuntu 16.04 ESM

Packages

• python-psutil - module providing convenience functions for managing processes

Details

Riccardo Schirone discovered that psutil incorrectly handled certain
reference counting operations. An attacker could use this issue to cause
psutil to crash, resulting in a denial of service, or possibly execute
arbitrary code.

Update instructions

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

Ubuntu 19.10

• python-psutil - 5.5.1-1ubuntu0.19.10.1
• python3-psutil - 5.5.1-1ubuntu0.19.10.1

Ubuntu 19.04

• python-psutil - 5.5.1-1ubuntu0.19.04.1
• python3-psutil - 5.5.1-1ubuntu0.19.04.1

Ubuntu 18.04

• python-psutil - 5.4.2-1ubuntu0.1
• python3-psutil - 5.4.2-1ubuntu0.1

Ubuntu 16.04

• python-psutil - 3.4.2-1ubuntu0.1
• python3-psutil - 3.4.2-1ubuntu0.1

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

References

• CVE-2019-18874