USN-4689-4: Linux kernel update

21 January 2021

Several security issues were fixed in NVIDIA graphics drivers.

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Releases

Packages

  • linux - Linux kernel
  • linux-aws - Linux kernel for Amazon Web Services (AWS) systems
  • linux-azure - Linux kernel for Microsoft Azure Cloud systems
  • linux-gcp - Linux kernel for Google Cloud Platform (GCP) systems
  • linux-hwe-5.4 - Linux hardware enablement (HWE) kernel
  • linux-hwe-5.8 - Linux hardware enablement (HWE) kernel
  • linux-oracle - Linux kernel for Oracle Cloud systems

Details

USN-4689-3 fixed vulnerabilities in the NVIDIA server graphics drivers.
This update provides the corresponding updates for the NVIDIA Linux
DKMS kernel modules.

Original advisory details:

It was discovered that the NVIDIA GPU display driver for the Linux kernel
contained a vulnerability that allowed user-mode clients to access legacy
privileged APIs. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of
service or escalate privileges. (CVE-2021-1052)

It was discovered that the NVIDIA GPU display driver for the Linux kernel
did not properly validate a pointer received from userspace in some
situations. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service.
(CVE-2021-1053)

Xinyuan Lyu discovered that the NVIDIA GPU display driver for the Linux
kernel did not properly restrict device-level GPU isolation. A local
attacker could use this to cause a denial of service or possibly expose
sensitive information. (CVE-2021-1056)

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Ubuntu Pro provides ten-year security coverage to 25,000+ packages in Main and Universe repositories, and it is free for up to five machines.

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Update instructions

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

Ubuntu 20.10
Ubuntu 20.04
Ubuntu 18.04

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.
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

Related notices

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