USN-679-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu Security Notice USN-679-1
27th November, 2008
linux, linux-source-2.6.15/22 vulnerabilities
A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:
- Ubuntu 8.10
- Ubuntu 8.04 LTS
- Ubuntu 7.10
- Ubuntu 6.06 LTS
Software description
- linux
- linux-backports-modules-2.6.15
- linux-backports-modules-2.6.22
- linux-backports-modules-2.6.24
- linux-backports-modules-2.6.27
- linux-restricted-modules
- linux-restricted-modules-2.6.15
- linux-restricted-modules-2.6.22
- linux-restricted-modules-2.6.24
- linux-source-2.6.15
- linux-source-2.6.22
- linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.22
- linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.24
Details
It was discovered that the Xen hypervisor block driver did not correctly
validate requests. A user with root privileges in a guest OS could make a
malicious IO request with a large number of blocks that would crash the
host OS, leading to a denial of service. This only affected Ubuntu 7.10.
(CVE-2007-5498)
It was discovered the the i915 video driver did not correctly validate
memory addresses. A local attacker could exploit this to remap memory that
could cause a system crash, leading to a denial of service. This issue did
not affect Ubuntu 6.06 and was previous fixed for Ubuntu 7.10 and 8.04 in
USN-659-1. Ubuntu 8.10 has now been corrected as well. (CVE-2008-3831)
David Watson discovered that the kernel did not correctly strip permissions
when creating files in setgid directories. A local user could exploit this
to gain additional group privileges. This issue only affected Ubuntu 6.06.
(CVE-2008-4210)
Olaf Kirch and Miklos Szeredi discovered that the Linux kernel did
not correctly reject the "append" flag when handling file splice
requests. A local attacker could bypass append mode and make changes to
arbitrary locations in a file. This issue only affected Ubuntu 7.10 and
8.04. (CVE-2008-4554)
It was discovered that the SCTP stack did not correctly handle INIT-ACK. A
remote user could exploit this by sending specially crafted SCTP traffic
which would trigger a crash in the system, leading to a denial of service.
This issue did not affect Ubuntu 8.10. (CVE-2008-4576)
It was discovered that the SCTP stack did not correctly handle bad packet
lengths. A remote user could exploit this by sending specially crafted SCTP
traffic which would trigger a crash in the system, leading to a denial of
service. This issue did not affect Ubuntu 8.10. (CVE-2008-4618)
Eric Sesterhenn discovered multiple flaws in the HFS+ filesystem. If a
local user or automated system were tricked into mounting a malicious HFS+
filesystem, the system could crash, leading to a denial of service.
(CVE-2008-4933, CVE-2008-4934, CVE-2008-5025)
It was discovered that the Unix Socket handler did not correctly process
the SCM_RIGHTS message. A local attacker could make a malicious socket
request that would crash the system, leading to a denial of service.
(CVE-2008-5029)
It was discovered that the driver for simple i2c audio interfaces did not
correctly validate certain function pointers. A local user could exploit
this to gain root privileges or crash the system, leading to a denial of
service. (CVE-2008-5033)
Update instructions
The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package version:
- Ubuntu 8.10:
- linux-image-2.6.27-9-virtual 2.6.27-9.19
- linux-image-2.6.27-9-generic 2.6.27-9.19
- linux-image-2.6.27-9-server 2.6.27-9.19
- Ubuntu 8.04 LTS:
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-powerpc 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-sparc64 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-virtual 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-server 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-lpia 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-hppa32 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-lpiacompat 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-rt 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-generic 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-hppa64 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-xen 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-mckinley 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-powerpc64-smp 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-itanium 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-openvz 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-386 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-sparc64-smp 2.6.24-22.45
- linux-image-2.6.24-22-powerpc-smp 2.6.24-22.45
- Ubuntu 7.10:
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-mckinley 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-powerpc64-smp 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-virtual 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-cell 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-hppa64 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-sparc64-smp 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-generic 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-lpia 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-powerpc-smp 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-386 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-hppa32 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-rt 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-xen 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-powerpc 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-itanium 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-lpiacompat 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-ume 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-sparc64 2.6.22-16.60
- linux-image-2.6.22-16-server 2.6.22-16.60
- Ubuntu 6.06 LTS:
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-powerpc64-smp 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-powerpc 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-amd64-xeon 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-386 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-amd64-generic 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-686 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-hppa64 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-sparc64 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-amd64-server 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-amd64-k8 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-hppa64-smp 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-sparc64-smp 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-itanium-smp 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-hppa32 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-hppa32-smp 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-mckinley 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-powerpc-smp 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-server-bigiron 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-mckinley-smp 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-server 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-itanium 2.6.15-53.74
- linux-image-2.6.15-53-k7 2.6.15-53.74
To update your system, please follow these instructions: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Security/Upgrades.
After a standard system upgrade you need to reboot your computer to
effect the necessary changes.
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.
References
CVE-2007-5498, CVE-2008-3831, CVE-2008-4210, CVE-2008-4554, CVE-2008-4576, CVE-2008-4618, CVE-2008-4933, CVE-2008-4934, CVE-2008-5025, CVE-2008-5029, CVE-2008-5033