USN-1388-1: Linux kernel (EC2) vulnerabilities
6 March 2012
Several security issues were fixed in the kernel.
Releases
Packages
- linux-ec2 - Linux kernel for EC2
Details
Paolo Bonzini discovered a flaw in Linux's handling of the SG_IO ioctl
command. A local user, or user in a VM could exploit this flaw to bypass
restrictions and gain read/write access to all data on the affected block
device. (CVE-2011-4127)
A flaw was found in KVM's Programmable Interval Timer (PIT). When a virtual
interrupt control is not available a local user could use this to cause a
denial of service by starting a timer. (CVE-2011-4622)
A flaw was discovered in the XFS filesystem. If a local user mounts a
specially crafted XFS image it could potential execute arbitrary code on
the system. (CVE-2012-0038)
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's ext4 file system when mounting a
corrupt filesystem. A user-assisted remote attacker could exploit this flaw
to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2012-2100)
Update instructions
The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:
Ubuntu 10.04
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.