7.8 - USN-614-1

A security issue affects the following Ubuntu releases:

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS

This advisory also applies to the corresponding versions of Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and Xubuntu.

The problem can be corrected by upgrading your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS:
linux-image-2.6.24-18-386 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-generic 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-hppa32 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-hppa64 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-itanium 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-lpia 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-lpiacompat 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-mckinley 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-openvz 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-powerpc 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-powerpc-smp 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-powerpc64-smp 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-rt 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-server 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-sparc64 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-sparc64-smp 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-virtual 2.6.24-18.32
linux-image-2.6.24-18-xen 2.6.24-18.32

After a standard system upgrade you need to reboot your computer to effect the necessary changes.

ATTENTION: Due to an unavoidable ABI change the kernel updates have been given a new version number, which requires you to recompile and reinstall all third party kernel modules you might have installed. If you use linux-restricted-modules, you have to update that package as well to get modules which work with the new kernel version. Unless you manually uninstalled the standard kernel metapackages (e.g. linux-386, linux-powerpc, linux-amd64-generic), a standard system upgrade will automatically perform this as well.

Details follow:

It was discovered that PowerPC kernels did not correctly handle reporting certain system details. By requesting a specific set of information, a local attacker could cause a system crash resulting in a denial of service. (CVE-2007-6694)

A race condition was discovered between dnotify fcntl() and close() in the kernel. If a local attacker performed malicious dnotify requests, they could cause memory consumption leading to a denial of service, or possibly send arbitrary signals to any process. (CVE-2008-1375)

On SMP systems, a race condition existed in fcntl(). Local attackers could perform malicious locks, causing system crashes and leading to a denial of service. (CVE-2008-1669)

The tehuti network driver did not correctly handle certain IO functions. A local attacker could perform malicious requests to the driver, potentially accessing kernel memory, leading to privilege escalation or access to private system information. (CVE-2008-1675)