The SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 SP1 LTSS kernel was updated to receive various security and bugfixes. This update adds mitigations for various side channel attacks against modern CPUs that could disclose content of otherwise unreadable memory (bnc#1068032).

  - CVE-2017-5753 / 'SpectreAttack': Local attackers on     systems with modern CPUs featuring deep instruction     pipelining could use attacker controllable speculative     execution over code patterns in the Linux Kernel to leak     content from otherwise not readable memory in the same     address space, allowing retrieval of passwords,     cryptographic keys and other secrets. This problem is     mitigated by adding speculative fencing on affected code     paths throughout the Linux kernel. This issue is     addressed for the x86_64, IBM Power and IBM zSeries     architecture.

  - CVE-2017-5715 / 'SpectreAttack': Local attackers on     systems with modern CPUs featuring branch prediction     could use mispredicted branches to speculatively execute     code patterns that in turn could be made to leak other     non-readable content in the same address space, an     attack similar to CVE-2017-5753. This problem is     mitigated by disabling predictive branches, depending on     CPU architecture either by firmware updates and/or fixes     in the user-kernel privilege boundaries. This is done     with help of Linux Kernel fixes on the Intel/AMD x86_64     and IBM zSeries architectures. On x86_64, this requires     also updates of the CPU microcode packages, delivered in     separate updates. For IBM Power and zSeries the required     firmware updates are supplied over regular channels by     IBM. As this feature can have a performance impact, it     can be disabled using the 'nospec' kernel commandline     option.

  - CVE-2017-5754 / 'MeltdownAttack': Local attackers on     systems with modern CPUs featuring deep instruction     pipelining could use code patterns in userspace to     speculative executive code that would read otherwise     read protected memory, an attack similar to     CVE-2017-5753. This problem is mitigated by unmapping     the Linux Kernel from the user address space during user     code execution, following a approach called 'KAISER'.
    The terms used here are 'KAISER' / 'Kernel Address     Isolation' and 'PTI' / 'Page Table Isolation'. This     update does this on the x86_64 architecture, it is not     required on the IBM zSeries architecture. This feature     can be enabled / disabled by the 'pti=[on|off|auto]' or     'nopti' commandline options. The following security bugs     were fixed :

  - CVE-2017-15868: The bnep_add_connection function in     net/bluetooth/bnep/core.c in the Linux kernel did not     ensure that an l2cap socket is available, which allowed     local users to gain privileges via a crafted application     (bnc#1071470).

  - CVE-2017-13167: An elevation of privilege vulnerability     in the kernel sound timer. (bnc#1072876).

  - CVE-2017-16538: drivers/media/usb/dvb-usb-v2/lmedm04.c     in the Linux kernel allowed local users to cause a     denial of service (general protection fault and system     crash) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a     crafted USB device, related to a missing warm-start     check and incorrect attach timing     (dm04_lme2510_frontend_attach versus dm04_lme2510_tuner)     (bnc#1066569).

  - CVE-2017-17558: The usb_destroy_configuration function     in drivers/usb/core/config.c in the USB core subsystem     in the Linux kernel did not consider the maximum number     of configurations and interfaces before attempting to     release resources, which allowed local users to cause a     denial of service (out-of-bounds write access) or     possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted USB     device (bnc#1072561).

  - CVE-2017-17450: net/netfilter/xt_osf.c in the Linux     kernel did not require the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability for     add_callback and remove_callback operations, which     allowed local users to bypass intended access     restrictions because the xt_osf_fingers data structure     is shared across all net namespaces (bnc#1071695).

  - CVE-2017-17449: The __netlink_deliver_tap_skb function     in net/netlink/af_netlink.c in the Linux kernel through     4.14.4, when CONFIG_NLMON is enabled, did not restrict     observations of Netlink messages to a single net     namespace, which allowed local users to obtain sensitive     information by leveraging the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability     to sniff an nlmon interface for all Netlink activity on     the system (bnc#1071694).

  - CVE-2017-17448: net/netfilter/nfnetlink_cthelper.c in     the Linux kernel did not require the CAP_NET_ADMIN     capability for new, get, and del operations, which     allowed local users to bypass intended access     restrictions because the nfnl_cthelper_list data     structure is shared across all net namespaces     (bnc#1071693).

  - CVE-2017-8824: The dccp_disconnect function in     net/dccp/proto.c in the Linux kernel allowed local users     to gain privileges or cause a denial of service     (use-after-free) via an AF_UNSPEC connect system call     during the DCCP_LISTEN state (bnc#1070771).

  - CVE-2017-15115: The sctp_do_peeloff function in     net/sctp/socket.c in the Linux kernel did not check     whether the intended netns is used in a peel-off action,     which allowed local users to cause a denial of service     (use-after-free and system crash) or possibly have     unspecified other impact via crafted system calls     (bnc#1068671).

  - CVE-2017-11600: net/xfrm/xfrm_policy.c in the Linux     kernel through 4.12.3, when CONFIG_XFRM_MIGRATE is     enabled, did not ensure that the dir value of     xfrm_userpolicy_id is XFRM_POLICY_MAX or less, which     allowed local users to cause a denial of service     (out-of-bounds access) or possibly have unspecified     other impact via an XFRM_MSG_MIGRATE xfrm Netlink     message (bnc#1050231).

  - CVE-2017-16534: The cdc_parse_cdc_header function in     drivers/usb/core/message.c in the Linux kernel allowed     local users to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds     read and system crash) or possibly have unspecified     other impact via a crafted USB device (bnc#1066693).

The update package also includes non-security fixes. See advisory for details.

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the SUSE security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

Detections

Analytics

SUSE SLES12 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2018:0031-1) (Meltdown) (Spectre)

high Nessus Plugin ID 105647

Version 3.11

Version 3.10

Version 3.11 Jan 13, 2026, 11:35 AM Exploit attributes ("Exploit framework core" set to "True") Plugin Feed: 202601131135
Version 3.10 Nov 11, 2025, 12:33 AM CVSSv2 score source (set to "CVE-2017-8824") Plugin Feed: 202511110033