Detections
Analytics

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS / 16.04 LTS : Linux kernel vulnerabilities (USN-8966-1)

high Nessus Plugin ID 375868

Synopsis

The remote Ubuntu host is missing one or more security updates.

Description

The remote Ubuntu 14.04 LTS / 16.04 LTS host has a package installed that is affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the USN-8966-1 advisory.

 Jrgen Gro discovered that the Xen network backend driver in the Linux kernel did not adequately limit the amount of queued packets when a guest did not process them. An attacker in a guest VM can use this to cause a denial of service (excessive kernel memory consumption) in the network backend domain.
 (CVE-2021-28714)

 It was discovered that the Bluetooth subsystem in the Linux kernel contained a use-after-free vulnerability. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2021-3640)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Update the affected kernel package.

See Also

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8966-1

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 375868

File Name: ubuntu_USN-8966-1.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Published: 11/4/2026

Updated: 11/4/2026

Supported Sensors: Agentless Assessment, Continuous Assessment, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Nessus Agent, Tenable Cloud Security, Tenable Self-Hosted Container Security, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.9

Percentile: 57.15

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.9

Temporal Score: 5.4

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2021-3640

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7

Temporal Score: 6.3

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.4.0-1161-aws, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.4.0-1162-kvm, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.4.0-290-generic, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:linux-image-4.4.0-290-lowlatency

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/Ubuntu, Host/Ubuntu/release, Host/Debian/dpkg-l

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 11/3/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 12/8/2021

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2021-28714, CVE-2021-3640

USN: 8966-1