Ubuntu 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS : Intel Microcode regression (USN-4385-2)

low Nessus Plugin ID 137352

Synopsis

The remote Ubuntu host is missing a security update.

Description

The remote Ubuntu 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS / 20.04 LTS host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the USN-4385-2 advisory.

USN-4385-1 provided updated Intel Processor Microcode. Unfortunately, that update prevented certain processors in the Intel Skylake family (06_4EH) from booting successfully. Additonally, on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, late loading of microcode was enabled, which could lead to system instability. This update reverts the microcode update for the Skylake processor family and disables the late loading option on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

Please note that the 'dis_ucode_ldr' kernel command line option can be added in the boot menu to disable microcode loading for system recovery.

We apologize for the inconvenience.



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 intel-microcode package.

See Also

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-4385-2

Plugin Details

Severity: Low

ID: 137352

File Name: ubuntu_USN-4385-2.nasl

Version: 1.8

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 6/11/2020

Updated: 10/29/2024

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:intel-microcode, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts

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

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 6/10/2020

Vulnerability Publication Date: 1/28/2020

Reference Information

USN: 4385-2