Ubuntu 16.04 LTS : Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities (USN-3541-2)

medium Nessus Plugin ID 106271

Synopsis

The remote Ubuntu host is missing one or more security updates.

Description

The remote Ubuntu 16.04 LTS host has a package installed that is affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the USN-3541-2 advisory.

USN-3541-1 addressed vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel for Ubuntu 17.10. This update provides the corresponding updates for the Linux Hardware Enablement (HWE) kernel from Ubuntu 17.10 for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

Jann Horn discovered that microprocessors utilizing speculative execution and branch prediction may allow unauthorized memory reads via sidechannel attacks. This flaw is known as Spectre. A local attacker could use this to expose sensitive information, including kernel memory. This update provides mitigations for the i386 (CVE-2017-5753 only), amd64, ppc64el, and s390x architectures. (CVE-2017-5715, CVE-2017-5753)

USN-3523-2 mitigated CVE-2017-5754 (Meltdown) for the amd64 architecture in the Linux Hardware Enablement (HWE) kernel from Ubuntu 17.10 for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. This update provides the corresponding mitigations for the ppc64el architecture.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Update the affected kernel package.

See Also

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-3541-2

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 106271

File Name: ubuntu_USN-3541-2.nasl

Version: 3.17

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 1/23/2018

Updated: 10/29/2024

Supported Sensors: Agentless Assessment, Continuous Assessment, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: High

Score: 8.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4.7

Temporal Score: 4.1

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:N/A:N

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2017-5754

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5.6

Temporal Score: 5.4

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:H/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.13.0-31-lowlatency, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.13.0-31-generic-lpae, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.13.0-1006-azure, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.13.0-1007-gcp, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.13.0-31-generic, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.13.0-1017-oem

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/Ubuntu, Host/Ubuntu/release, Host/Debian/dpkg-l

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 1/22/2018

Vulnerability Publication Date: 1/4/2018

Exploitable With

CANVAS (CANVAS)

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2017-5715, CVE-2017-5753, CVE-2017-5754

IAVA: 2018-A-0019, 2018-A-0020

USN: 3541-2