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USN-4679-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities

6 January 2021

Several security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.

Reduce your security exposure

Ubuntu Pro provides ten-year security coverage to 25,000+ packages in Main and Universe repositories, and it is free for up to five machines.

Learn more about Ubuntu Pro

Releases

Packages

Details

It was discovered that the console keyboard driver in the Linux kernel
contained a race condition. A local attacker could use this to expose
sensitive information (kernel memory). (CVE-2020-25656)

Minh Yuan discovered that the tty driver in the Linux kernel contained race
conditions when handling fonts. A local attacker could possibly use this to
expose sensitive information (kernel memory). (CVE-2020-25668)

Kiyin (尹亮) discovered that the perf subsystem in the Linux kernel did
not properly deallocate memory in some situations. A privileged attacker
could use this to cause a denial of service (kernel memory exhaustion).
(CVE-2020-25704)

Jinoh Kang discovered that the Xen event channel infrastructure in the
Linux kernel contained a race condition. An attacker in guest could
possibly use this to cause a denial of service (dom0 crash).
(CVE-2020-27675)

Daniel Axtens discovered that PowerPC RTAS implementation in the Linux
kernel did not properly restrict memory accesses in some situations. A
privileged local attacker could use this to arbitrarily modify kernel
memory, potentially bypassing kernel lockdown restrictions.
(CVE-2020-27777)

Minh Yuan discovered that the framebuffer console driver in the Linux
kernel did not properly handle fonts in some conditions. A local attacker
could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly
expose sensitive information (kernel memory). (CVE-2020-28974)

Reduce your security exposure

Ubuntu Pro provides ten-year security coverage to 25,000+ packages in Main and Universe repositories, and it is free for up to five machines.

Learn more about Ubuntu Pro

Update instructions

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

Ubuntu 20.04
Ubuntu 18.04

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

Related notices

  • USN-4680-1: linux-gcp-4.15, linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04, linux-aws-hwe, linux-image-virtual-hwe-16.04-edge, linux-image-gcp-lts-18.04, linux-image-oem, linux-aws, linux-image-4.15.0-1091-aws, linux-hwe, linux-image-gcp, linux-oracle, linux-kvm, linux-image-4.15.0-1103-azure, linux-azure-4.15, linux-image-4.15.0-1094-snapdragon, linux-gcp, linux-image-virtual, linux-image-oracle, linux-image-lowlatency-hwe-16.04, linux-raspi2, linux-image-4.15.0-1077-raspi2, linux-image-4.15.0-1062-oracle, linux-image-gke, linux-image-4.15.0-1082-kvm, linux-image-4.15.0-129-generic, linux-image-azure-lts-18.04, linux-image-generic-lpae-hwe-16.04, linux-image-oracle-lts-18.04, linux-snapdragon, linux-image-raspi2, linux-image-4.15.0-129-generic-lpae, linux-image-virtual-hwe-16.04, linux-gke-4.15, linux-image-4.15.0-129-lowlatency, linux-image-aws-hwe, linux-image-lowlatency, linux-image-snapdragon, linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04-edge, linux-image-generic-lpae-hwe-16.04-edge, linux-image-gke-4.15, linux-image-lowlatency-hwe-16.04-edge, linux, linux-image-azure-edge, linux-azure, linux-image-4.15.0-1091-gcp, linux-image-azure, linux-image-generic-lpae, linux-image-generic, linux-image-kvm, linux-image-aws-lts-18.04, linux-image-4.15.0-1077-gke
  • USN-4681-1: linux-image-powerpc-e500mc-lts-xenial, linux-image-4.4.0-198-lowlatency, linux-image-powerpc-smp, linux-image-powerpc64-smp, linux-image-lowlatency-lts-utopic, linux-aws, linux-image-powerpc64-emb-lts-xenial, linux-image-powerpc64-smp-lts-wily, linux-image-4.4.0-198-powerpc64-emb, linux-image-powerpc64-emb-lts-vivid, linux-image-generic-lpae-lts-utopic, linux-image-4.4.0-1143-raspi2, linux-image-generic-lts-xenial, linux-image-generic-lts-vivid, linux-kvm, linux-image-4.4.0-1083-aws, linux-image-powerpc-e500mc-lts-vivid, linux-image-virtual, linux-image-4.4.0-198-generic-lpae, linux-image-generic-lts-utopic, linux-image-powerpc-e500mc, linux-image-generic-lpae-lts-vivid, linux-image-4.4.0-1085-kvm, linux-image-powerpc-e500mc-lts-wily, linux-lts-xenial, linux-image-virtual-lts-xenial, linux-raspi2, linux-image-4.4.0-1147-snapdragon, linux-image-lowlatency-lts-xenial, linux-image-powerpc-e500mc-lts-utopic, linux-image-virtual-lts-vivid, linux-image-powerpc-smp-lts-xenial, linux-image-4.4.0-198-powerpc-e500mc, linux-image-powerpc-smp-lts-wily, linux-image-generic-lpae-lts-xenial, linux-image-powerpc64-emb-lts-utopic, linux-image-raspi2, linux-snapdragon, linux-image-powerpc64-emb-lts-wily, linux-image-4.4.0-1119-aws, linux-image-lowlatency, linux-image-powerpc64-smp-lts-xenial, linux-image-snapdragon, linux-image-4.4.0-198-powerpc64-smp, linux-image-virtual-lts-wily, linux-image-virtual-lts-utopic, linux-image-4.4.0-198-generic, linux-image-powerpc-smp-lts-utopic, linux-image-powerpc64-smp-lts-utopic, linux, linux-image-powerpc64-emb, linux-image-aws, linux-image-4.4.0-198-powerpc-smp, linux-image-generic-lpae-lts-wily, linux-image-generic-lts-wily, linux-image-lowlatency-lts-vivid, linux-image-powerpc64-smp-lts-vivid, linux-image-generic-lpae, linux-image-generic, linux-image-lowlatency-lts-wily, linux-image-kvm, linux-image-powerpc-smp-lts-vivid
  • USN-4683-1: linux-image-5.6.0-1039-oem, linux-image-oem-20.04, linux-oem-5.6
  • USN-4751-1: linux-image-5.8.0-1016-raspi, linux-image-5.8.0-1019-kvm, linux-image-5.8.0-44-generic-lpae, linux-image-lowlatency-hwe-20.04, linux-hwe-5.8, linux-image-5.8.0-44-lowlatency, linux-aws, linux-image-oem-20.04, linux-image-generic-64k-hwe-20.04, linux-image-5.8.0-44-generic, linux-image-gcp, linux-oracle, linux-kvm, linux-raspi, linux-gcp, linux-image-virtual, linux-image-generic-lpae-hwe-20.04-edge, linux-image-5.8.0-1023-azure, linux-image-oracle, linux-image-5.8.0-1024-aws, linux-image-generic-hwe-20.04, linux-image-generic-64k, linux-image-gke, linux-image-generic-lpae-hwe-20.04, linux-image-generic-64k-hwe-20.04-edge, linux-image-virtual-hwe-20.04-edge, linux-image-virtual-hwe-20.04, linux-image-lowlatency, linux-image-generic-hwe-20.04-edge, linux-image-raspi, linux-image-raspi-nolpae, linux-image-5.8.0-44-generic-64k, linux-image-5.8.0-1023-gcp, linux-image-5.8.0-1016-raspi-nolpae, linux, linux-image-lowlatency-hwe-20.04-edge, linux-image-aws, linux-azure, linux-image-azure, linux-image-generic-lpae, linux-image-5.8.0-1021-oracle, linux-image-generic, linux-image-kvm
  • USN-4710-1: linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04, linux-image-oem, linux-image-4.15.0-133-generic-lpae, linux-hwe, linux-image-4.15.0-133-generic, linux-image-4.15.0-135-generic, linux-image-virtual, linux-image-lowlatency-hwe-16.04, linux-image-4.15.0-135-lowlatency, linux-image-generic-lpae-hwe-16.04, linux-image-virtual-hwe-16.04, linux-image-lowlatency, linux-image-generic-hwe-16.04-edge, linux-image-generic-lpae-hwe-16.04-edge, linux-image-lowlatency-hwe-16.04-edge, linux-image-4.15.0-135-generic-lpae, linux, linux-image-4.15.0-133-lowlatency, linux-image-generic-lpae, linux-image-generic, linux-image-virtual-hwe-16.04-edge
  • USN-4711-1: linux-gcp-4.15, linux-aws-hwe, linux-image-4.15.0-1078-gke, linux-image-4.15.0-1084-kvm, linux-image-gcp-lts-18.04, linux-aws, linux-image-gcp, linux-oracle, linux-image-4.15.0-1095-snapdragon, linux-kvm, linux-azure-4.15, linux-gcp, linux-image-4.15.0-1078-raspi2, linux-image-oracle, linux-raspi2, linux-image-4.15.0-1064-oracle, linux-image-4.15.0-1092-gcp, linux-image-gke, linux-image-azure-lts-18.04, linux-image-oracle-lts-18.04, linux-snapdragon, linux-image-raspi2, linux-gke-4.15, linux-image-aws-hwe, linux-image-snapdragon, linux-image-4.15.0-1093-aws, linux-image-gke-4.15, linux-image-azure-edge, linux-azure, linux-image-azure, linux-image-4.15.0-1106-azure, linux-image-kvm, linux-image-aws-lts-18.04
  • USN-4752-1: linux-image-oem-20.04, linux-image-5.6.0-1048-oem, linux-oem-5.6
  • USN-4708-1: linux-image-4.4.0-201-powerpc-e500mc, linux-image-powerpc-e500mc-lts-xenial, linux-image-powerpc-smp, linux-image-powerpc64-smp, linux-image-4.4.0-201-generic, linux-image-lowlatency-lts-utopic, linux-image-powerpc64-emb-lts-xenial, linux-image-powerpc64-smp-lts-wily, linux-image-4.4.0-201-powerpc-smp, linux-image-powerpc64-emb-lts-vivid, linux-image-generic-lpae-lts-utopic, linux-image-generic-lts-xenial, linux-image-generic-lts-vivid, linux-image-powerpc-e500mc-lts-vivid, linux-image-virtual, linux-image-4.4.0-201-powerpc64-emb, linux-image-generic-lts-utopic, linux-image-4.4.0-201-lowlatency, linux-image-powerpc-e500mc, linux-image-generic-lpae-lts-vivid, linux-lts-xenial, linux-image-powerpc-e500mc-lts-wily, linux-image-4.4.0-201-generic-lpae, linux-image-virtual-lts-xenial, linux-image-lowlatency-lts-xenial, linux-image-powerpc-e500mc-lts-utopic, linux-image-virtual-lts-vivid, linux-image-powerpc-smp-lts-xenial, linux-image-powerpc-smp-lts-wily, linux-image-powerpc64-emb-lts-utopic, linux-image-generic-lpae-lts-xenial, linux-image-powerpc64-emb-lts-wily, linux-image-lowlatency, linux-image-powerpc64-smp-lts-xenial, linux-image-virtual-lts-wily, linux-image-virtual-lts-utopic, linux-image-powerpc-smp-lts-utopic, linux-image-powerpc64-smp-lts-utopic, linux, linux-image-powerpc64-emb, linux-image-generic-lts-wily, linux-image-generic-lpae-lts-wily, linux-image-lowlatency-lts-vivid, linux-image-powerpc64-smp-lts-vivid, linux-image-generic-lpae, linux-image-generic, linux-image-4.4.0-201-powerpc64-smp, linux-image-lowlatency-lts-wily, linux-image-powerpc-smp-lts-vivid