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Ubuntu 18.04 LTS: USN-3872-1 Critical Linux HWE Kernel Issues

ubuntu
Calendar Grey January 29, 2019
Dist Ubuntu Esm H88
Multiple vulnerabilities addressed in the linux-hwe kernel for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Ensure you update promptly to protect against these threats.
Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

Summary

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

Software Description:

- linux-hwe: Linux hardware enablement (HWE) kernel

Details:

It was discovered that a race condition existed in the vsock address family

implementation of the Linux kernel that could lead to a use-after-free

condition. A local attacker in a guest virtual machine could use this to

expose sensitive information (host machine kernel memory). (CVE-2018-14625)

Cfir Cohen discovered that a use-after-free vulnerability existed in the

KVM implementation of the Linux kernel, when handling interrupts in

environments where nested virtualization is in use (nested KVM

virtualization is not enabled by default in Ubuntu kernels). A local

attacker in a guest VM could possibly use this to gain administrative

privileges in a host machine. (CVE-2018-16882)

Wei Wu discovered that the KVM implementation in the Linux kernel did not

properly ensure that ioapics were initialized. A local attacker could use

this to cause a de...

Read the Full Advisory

Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

security advisory denial of service ubuntu use-after-free linux-hwe

Update Instructions

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

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS:
  linux-image-4.18.0-14-generic   4.18.0-14.15~18.04.1
  linux-image-4.18.0-14-generic-lpae  4.18.0-14.15~18.04.1
  linux-image-4.18.0-14-lowlatency  4.18.0-14.15~18.04.1
  linux-image-4.18.0-14-snapdragon  4.18.0-14.15~18.04.1
  linux-image-generic-hwe-18.04   4.18.0.14.64
  linux-image-generic-lpae-hwe-18.04  4.18.0.14.64
  linux-image-lowlatency-hwe-18.04  4.18.0.14.64
  linux-image-snapdragon-hwe-18.04  4.18.0.14.64

After a standard system update you need to reboot your computer to make
all 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.
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.

References

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-3872-1

CVE-2018-14625, CVE-2018-16882, CVE-2018-19407, CVE-2018-19854

Severity
critical
Lowest
Low
Medium
High
Critical

January 29, 2019

Topics%20covered

Topics Covered

security advisory denial of service ubuntu use-after-free linux-hwe

Package Information

https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-hwe/4.18.0-14.15~18.04.1

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