Ubuntu 18.04 LTS: USN-3863-1 Critical: APT Altered Packages Threat

ubuntu

January 22, 2019

An attacker could trick APT into installing altered packages.

Summary

An attacker could trick APT into installing altered packages.

Software Description:

- apt: Advanced front-end for dpkg

Details:

Max Justicz discovered that APT incorrectly handled certain parameters

during redirects. If a remote attacker were able to perform a

man-in-the-middle attack, this flaw could potentially be used to install

altered packages.

Topics Covered

security advisory security issue package update Ubuntu man-in-the-middle attack APT altered packages

Update Instructions

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

Ubuntu 18.10:
  apt                             1.7.0ubuntu0.1

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS:
  apt                             1.6.6ubuntu0.1

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS:
  apt                             1.2.29ubuntu0.1

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS:
  apt                             1.0.1ubuntu2.19

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