Amazon Linux AMI : kernel (ALAS-2013-166)

medium Nessus Plugin ID 69725

Synopsis

The remote Amazon Linux AMI host is missing a security update.

Description

It was found that a deadlock could occur in the Out of Memory (OOM) killer. A process could trigger this deadlock by consuming a large amount of memory, and then causing request_module() to be called. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to cause a denial of service (excessive memory consumption). (CVE-2012-4398)

A flaw was found in the way the KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) subsystem handled guests attempting to run with the X86_CR4_OSXSAVE CPU feature flag set. On hosts without the XSAVE CPU feature, a local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to crash the host system. (The 'grep --color xsave /proc/cpuinfo' command can be used to verify if your system has the XSAVE CPU feature.) (CVE-2012-4461)

A memory disclosure flaw was found in the way the load_script() function in the binfmt_script binary format handler handled excessive recursions. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to leak kernel stack memory to user-space by executing specially crafted scripts. (CVE-2012-4530)

A race condition was found in the way the Linux kernel's ptrace implementation handled PTRACE_SETREGS requests when the debuggee was woken due to a SIGKILL signal instead of being stopped. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to escalate their privileges.
(CVE-2013-0871)

Solution

Run 'yum update kernel' to update your system. You will need to reboot your system in order for the new kernel to be running.

See Also

https://alas.aws.amazon.com/ALAS-2013-166.html

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 69725

File Name: ala_ALAS-2013-166.nasl

Version: 1.7

Type: local

Agent: unix

Published: 9/4/2013

Updated: 4/18/2018

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

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: High

Score: 7.4

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.9

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

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:kernel, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:kernel-debuginfo, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:kernel-debuginfo-common-i686, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:kernel-devel, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:kernel-doc, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:kernel-headers, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:kernel-tools, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:kernel-tools-debuginfo, cpe:/o:amazon:linux

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/AmazonLinux/release, Host/AmazonLinux/rpm-list

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 3/2/2013

Exploitable With

CANVAS (CANVAS)

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2012-4398, CVE-2012-4461, CVE-2012-4530, CVE-2013-0871