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VPR Score: 9.5
Synopsis
The remote Ubuntu host is missing one or more security-related patches.
Description
USN-3523-1 fixed vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel for Ubuntu 17.10.
This update provides the corresponding updates for the Linux Hardware Enablement (HWE) kernel from Ubuntu 17.10 for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.
Jann Horn discovered that microprocessors utilizing speculative execution and indirect branch prediction may allow unauthorized memory reads via sidechannel attacks. This flaw is known as Meltdown. A local attacker could use this to expose sensitive information, including kernel memory. (CVE-2017-5754)
Jann Horn discovered that the Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) implementation in the Linux kernel did not properly check the relationship between pointer values and the BPF stack. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2017-17863)
Jann Horn discovered that the Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) implementation in the Linux kernel improperly performed sign extension in some situations. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code.
(CVE-2017-16995)
Alexei Starovoitov discovered that the Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) implementation in the Linux kernel contained a branch-pruning logic issue around unreachable code. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2017-17862)
Jann Horn discovered that the Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) implementation in the Linux kernel mishandled pointer data values in some situations. A local attacker could use this to to expose sensitive information (kernel memory). (CVE-2017-17864).
Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
Solution
Update the affected packages.