Ubuntu 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS : Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerability (USN-4096-1)

medium Nessus Plugin ID 127891

Synopsis

The remote Ubuntu host is missing a security update.

Description

The remote Ubuntu 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the USN-4096-1 advisory.

Andrei Vlad Lutas and Dan Lutas discovered that some x86 processors incorrectly handle SWAPGS instructions during speculative execution. A local attacker could use this to expose sensitive information (kernel memory).

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

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue 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-4096-1

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 127891

File Name: ubuntu_USN-4096-1.nasl

Version: 1.12

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 8/14/2019

Updated: 8/28/2024

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

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 5.2

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Low

Base Score: 2.1

Temporal Score: 1.6

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2019-1125

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 5.6

Temporal Score: 5.1

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:P/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.15.0-1045-aws, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts

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: 8/13/2019

Vulnerability Publication Date: 9/3/2019

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2019-1125

USN: 4096-1