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Ubuntu 16.04 ESM : Linux kernel vulnerabilities (USN-6221-1)

high Nessus Plugin ID 178649

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Synopsis

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

Description

The remote Ubuntu 16.04 ESM host has a package installed that is affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the USN-6221-1 advisory.

 It was discovered that a race condition existed in the overlay file system implementation in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2021-20321)

 It was discovered that the virtual terminal (vt) device implementation in the Linux kernel contained a race condition in its ioctl handling that led to an out-of-bounds read vulnerability. A local attacker could possibly use this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2021-3753)

 It was discovered that the ext4 file system implementation in the Linux kernel contained a use-after-free vulnerability. An attacker could use this to construct a malicious ext4 file system image that, when mounted, could cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2022-1184)

 Pawan Kumar Gupta, Alyssa Milburn, Amit Peled, Shani Rehana, Nir Shildan and Ariel Sabba discovered that some Intel processors with Enhanced Indirect Branch Restricted Speculation (eIBRS) did not properly handle RET instructions after a VM exits. A local attacker could potentially use this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2022-26373)

 Johannes Wikner and Kaveh Razavi discovered that for some Intel x86-64 processors, the Linux kernel's protections against speculative branch target injection attacks were insufficient in some circumstances. A local attacker could possibly use this to expose sensitive information. (CVE-2022-29901)

 It was discovered that the ST NCI NFC driver did not properly handle device removal events. A physically proximate attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2023-1990)

 It was discovered that the btrfs file system implementation in the Linux kernel did not properly handle error conditions in some situations, leading to a use-after-free vulnerability. A local attacker could possibly use this to cause a denial of service (system crash). (CVE-2023-3111)

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-6221-1

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 178649

File Name: ubuntu_USN-6221-1.nasl

Version: 1.2

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 7/20/2023

Updated: 8/27/2024

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: 6.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Low

Base Score: 1.9

Temporal Score: 1.5

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2022-29901

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 7

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

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2023-3111

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.4.0-242-generic, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.4.0-1121-kvm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.4.0-1158-aws, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.4.0-242-lowlatency, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:esm

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: 7/12/2023

Vulnerability Publication Date: 9/30/2021

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2021-20321, CVE-2021-3753, CVE-2022-1184, CVE-2022-26373, CVE-2022-29901, CVE-2023-1990, CVE-2023-3111

USN: 6221-1