USN-2975-2: Linux kernel (Trusty HWE) vulnerability

Ubuntu Security Notice USN-2975-2

16th May, 2016

linux-lts-trusty vulnerability

A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:

• Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

Summary

The system could be made to crash or run programs as an administrator.

Software description

• linux-lts-trusty - Linux hardware enablement kernel from Trusty for Precise

Details

USN-2975-1 fixed vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel for Ubuntu 14.04
LTS. This update provides the corresponding updates for the Linux
Hardware Enablement (HWE) kernel from Ubuntu 14.04 LTS for Ubuntu
12.04 LTS.

Philip Pettersson discovered that the Linux kernel's ASN.1 DER decoder did
not properly process certificate files with tags of indefinite length. A
local unprivileged attacker could use this to cause a denial of service
(system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code with administrative
privileges.

Update instructions

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

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS:

linux-image-3.13.0-86-generic 3.13.0-86.131~precise1

linux-image-3.13.0-86-generic-lpae 3.13.0-86.131~precise1

To update your system, please follow these instructions: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Security/Upgrades.

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-trusty, linux-virtual,
linux-powerpc), a standard system upgrade will automatically perform
this as well.

References

CVE-2016-0758