[ale] Ubuntu issues warning, urges users to upgrade

[Brian Pitts]

Jim Popovitch wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 4, 2008 at 10:55,  <krwatson at cc.gatech.edu> wrote:
>> Ubuntu issues warning, urges users to upgrade
>> http://www.techspot.com/news/31378-ubuntu-issues-warning-urges-users-to-upgrade.html
> 
> LOL!  Best line (deserves an award!)
> 
>    "that could result in system compromise once the attacker gains
> access to root."
>

The Tech$pot story is sorry and pathetic. So is the zdnet story to which
they link. Here's the actual security notice.

===========================================================
Ubuntu Security Notice USN-637-1 August 25, 2008
linux, linux-source-2.6.15/20/22
vulnerabilities CVE-2008-2812, CVE-2008-2931, CVE-2008-3272,
CVE-2008-3275 ===========================================================

A security issue affects the following Ubuntu releases: Ubuntu 6.06 LTS
Ubuntu 7.04 Ubuntu 7.10 Ubuntu 8.04 LTS This advisory also applies to
the corresponding versions of Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and Xubuntu.

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

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS: linux-image-2.6.15-52-386 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-686 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-amd64-generic 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-amd64-k8 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-amd64-server 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-amd64-xeon 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-hppa32 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-hppa32-smp 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-hppa64 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-hppa64-smp 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-itanium 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-itanium-smp 2.6.15-52.71 linux-image-2.6.15-52-k7
2.6.15-52.71 linux-image-2.6.15-52-mckinley 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-mckinley-smp 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-powerpc 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-powerpc-smp 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-powerpc64-smp 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-server 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-server-bigiron 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-sparc64 2.6.15-52.71
linux-image-2.6.15-52-sparc64-smp 2.6.15-52.71

Ubuntu 7.04: linux-image-2.6.20-17-386 2.6.20-17.39
linux-image-2.6.20-17-generic 2.6.20-17.39 linux-image-2.6.20-17-hppa32
2.6.20-17.39 linux-image-2.6.20-17-hppa64 2.6.20-17.39
linux-image-2.6.20-17-itanium 2.6.20-17.39
linux-image-2.6.20-17-lowlatency 2.6.20-17.39
linux-image-2.6.20-17-mckinley 2.6.20-17.39
linux-image-2.6.20-17-powerpc 2.6.20-17.39
linux-image-2.6.20-17-powerpc-smp 2.6.20-17.39
linux-image-2.6.20-17-powerpc64-smp 2.6.20-17.39
linux-image-2.6.20-17-server 2.6.20-17.39
linux-image-2.6.20-17-server-bigiron 2.6.20-17.39
linux-image-2.6.20-17-sparc64 2.6.20-17.39
linux-image-2.6.20-17-sparc64-smp 2.6.20-17.39

Ubuntu 7.10: linux-image-2.6.22-15-386 2.6.22-15.58
linux-image-2.6.22-15-cell 2.6.22-15.58 linux-image-2.6.22-15-generic
2.6.22-15.58 linux-image-2.6.22-15-hppa32 2.6.22-15.58
linux-image-2.6.22-15-hppa64 2.6.22-15.58 linux-image-2.6.22-15-itanium
2.6.22-15.58 linux-image-2.6.22-15-lpia 2.6.22-15.58
linux-image-2.6.22-15-lpiacompat 2.6.22-15.58
linux-image-2.6.22-15-mckinley 2.6.22-15.58
linux-image-2.6.22-15-powerpc 2.6.22-15.58
linux-image-2.6.22-15-powerpc-smp 2.6.22-15.58
linux-image-2.6.22-15-powerpc64-smp 2.6.22-15.58
linux-image-2.6.22-15-rt 2.6.22-15.58 linux-image-2.6.22-15-server
2.6.22-15.58 linux-image-2.6.22-15-sparc64 2.6.22-15.58
linux-image-2.6.22-15-sparc64-smp 2.6.22-15.58 linux-image-2.6.22-15-ume
2.6.22-15.58 linux-image-2.6.22-15-virtual 2.6.22-15.58
linux-image-2.6.22-15-xen 2.6.22-15.58

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS: linux-image-2.6.24-19-386 2.6.24-19.41
linux-image-2.6.24-19-generic 2.6.24-19.41 linux-image-2.6.24-19-hppa32
2.6.24-19.41 linux-image-2.6.24-19-hppa64 2.6.24-19.41
linux-image-2.6.24-19-itanium 2.6.24-19.41 linux-image-2.6.24-19-lpia
2.6.24-19.41 linux-image-2.6.24-19-lpiacompat 2.6.24-19.41
linux-image-2.6.24-19-mckinley 2.6.24-19.41 linux-image-2.6.24-19-openvz
2.6.24-19.41 linux-image-2.6.24-19-powerpc 2.6.24-19.41
linux-image-2.6.24-19-powerpc-smp 2.6.24-19.41
linux-image-2.6.24-19-powerpc64-smp 2.6.24-19.41
linux-image-2.6.24-19-rt 2.6.24-19.41 linux-image-2.6.24-19-server
2.6.24-19.41 linux-image-2.6.24-19-sparc64 2.6.24-19.41
linux-image-2.6.24-19-sparc64-smp 2.6.24-19.41
linux-image-2.6.24-19-virtual 2.6.24-19.41 linux-image-2.6.24-19-xen
2.6.24-19.41

After a standard system upgrade you need to reboot your computer to
effect the necessary changes.

Details follow: It was discovered that there were multiple NULL-pointer
function dereferences in the Linux kernel terminal handling code. A
local attacker could exploit this to execute arbitrary code as root, or
crash the system, leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2008-2812) The
do_change_type routine did not correctly validation administrative
users. A local attacker could exploit this to block mount points or
cause private mounts to be shared, leading to denial of service or a
possible loss of privacy. (CVE-2008-2931) Tobias Klein discovered that
the OSS interface through ALSA did not correctly validate the device
number. A local attacker could exploit this to access sensitive kernel
memory, leading to a denial of service or a loss of privacy.
(CVE-2008-3272) Zoltan Sogor discovered that new directory entries could
be added to already deleted directories. A local attacker could exploit
this, filling up available memory and disk space, leading to a denial of
service. (CVE-2008-3275) In certain situations, the fix for
CVE-2008-0598 from USN-623-1 was causing infinite loops in the writev
syscall. This update corrects the mistake. We apologize for the
inconvenience.