USN-1081-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

2 March 2011

Multiple kernel flaws.

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It was discovered that KVM did not correctly initialize certain CPU
registers. A local attacker could exploit this to crash the system, leading
to a denial of service. (CVE-2010-3698)

Thomas Pollet discovered that the RDS network protocol did not check
certain iovec buffers. A local attacker could exploit this to crash the
system or possibly execute arbitrary code as the root user. (CVE-2010-3865)

Vasiliy Kulikov discovered that the Linux kernel X.25 implementation did
not correctly clear kernel memory. A local attacker could exploit this to
read kernel stack memory, leading to a loss of privacy. (CVE-2010-3875)

Vasiliy Kulikov discovered that the Linux kernel sockets implementation did
not properly initialize certain structures. A local attacker could exploit
this to read kernel stack memory, leading to a loss of privacy.
(CVE-2010-3876)

Vasiliy Kulikov discovered that the TIPC interface did not correctly
initialize certain structures. A local attacker could exploit this to read
kernel stack memory, leading to a loss of privacy. (CVE-2010-3877)

Nelson Elhage discovered that the Linux kernel IPv4 implementation did not
properly audit certain bytecodes in netlink messages. A local attacker
could exploit this to cause the kernel to hang, leading to a denial of
service. (CVE-2010-3880)

Dan Rosenberg discovered that the ivtv V4L driver did not correctly
initialize certian structures. A local attacker could exploit this to read
kernel stack memory, leading to a loss of privacy. (CVE-2010-4079)

Dan Rosenberg discovered that the semctl syscall did not correctly clear
kernel memory. A local attacker could exploit this to read kernel stack
memory, leading to a loss of privacy. (CVE-2010-4083)

It was discovered that multithreaded exec did not handle CPU timers
correctly. A local attacker could exploit this to crash the system, leading
to a denial of service. (CVE-2010-4248)

Vegard Nossum discovered a leak in the kernel's inotify_init() system call.
A local, unprivileged user could exploit this to cause a denial of service.
(CVE-2010-4250)

Nelson Elhage discovered that Econet did not correctly handle AUN packets
over UDP. A local attacker could send specially crafted traffic to crash
the system, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2010-4342)

Tavis Ormandy discovered that the install_special_mapping function could
bypass the mmap_min_addr restriction. A local attacker could exploit this
to mmap 4096 bytes below the mmap_min_addr area, possibly improving the
chances of performing NULL pointer dereference attacks. (CVE-2010-4346)

Dan Rosenberg discovered that the OSS subsystem did not handle name
termination correctly. A local attacker could exploit this crash the system
or gain root privileges. (CVE-2010-4527)

An error was reported in the kernel's ORiNOCO wireless driver's handling of
TKIP countermeasures. This reduces the amount of time an attacker needs
breach a wireless network using WPA+TKIP for security. (CVE-2010-4648)

Dan Carpenter discovered that the Infiniband driver did not correctly
handle certain requests. A local user could exploit this to crash the
system or potentially gain root privileges. (CVE-2010-4649, CVE-2011-1044)

An error was discovered in the kernel's handling of CUSE (Character device
in Userspace). A local attacker might exploit this flaw to escalate
privilege, if access to /dev/cuse has been modified to allow non-root
users. (CVE-2010-4650)

A flaw was found in the kernel's Integrity Measurement Architecture (IMA).
Changes made by an attacker might not be discovered by IMA, if SELinux was
disabled, and a new IMA rule was loaded. (CVE-2011-0006)

It was discovered that some import kernel threads can be blocked by a user
level process. An unprivileged local user could exploit this flaw to cause
a denial of service. (CVE-2011-4621)

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Update instructions

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

Ubuntu 10.10

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. 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.

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