[GNU/Linux] Linux Kernel vulnerability

Thursday, 08/13/2009 information about a Linux Kernel vulnerability allowing privilege-escalation, has been released. [1]. For exploiting this vulnerability local access is needed.

Affected Systems

Linux Kernels of Version 2.4 and 2.6 are affected by this vulnerability.

Linux 2.4, Version 2.4.4 up and including 2.4.37.4
Linux 2.6, Version 2.6.0 up and including 2.6.30.4

The national vulnerability database of NIST covers the affected kernel versions in detail [2].

Countermeasures

If your computer is affected by this vulnerability, you should take countermeasures. For most linux-distributions, an updated kernel will be released and deployed using the update mechanisms of the linux distribution in use. Please note that a reboot of your system will be necessary for a successful update.

Users of the "kleine Baumschule" distribution from SCC already have received an hardened kernel, in some cases a manual reboot is neccessary.

If you are using a different distribution, the following steps can be used to install the updates, based on availability.

debian

Information from debian for this vulnerability [3]. Update of the system and reboot can be done with the following commands:

apt-get update && apt-get upgrade && reboot

Ubuntu

Information from Ubuntu for this vulnerability : [4, 6]. Update of the system and reboot can be done with the following commands:

apt-get update && apt-get upgrade && reboot

SuSE Linux Enterprise

Information from SuSE for this vulnerability : N/A. Update of the system and reboot can be done with the following commands:

zypper up && reboot

RedHat Enterprise Linux

Information from RedHat for this vulnerability : [5]. Update of the system and reboot can be done with the following commands:

RedHat Enterprise Linux 4: up2date && reboot
RedHat Enterprise Linux 5: yum update && reboot

References

[1] http://lists.grok.org.uk/pipermail/full-disclosure/2009-August/070197.html
[2] http://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2009-2692
[3] http://www.debian.org/security/2009/dsa-1864
[4] https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/413656
[5] https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2009-2692
[6] http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-819-1

Note

Security warnings issued by the KIT-CERT are published on this page. These warnings are composed and published for students and members of KIT. Re-publishing on a different site is allowed only if the contents remain unmodified and this disclaimer is attached. Also the following copyright statement must be published with the security warning.

aw, 08/17/2009