All Utopic Unicorn users are urged to update immediately

Apr 9, 2015 21:59 GMT  ·  By

Immediately after announcing new kernel updates for the Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) operating systems, Canonical has also published details about a kernel update for its Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicon) distribution, urging users to update as soon as possible.

Three new kernel vulnerabilities discovered by various developers in the upstream Linux 3.16 kernel packages have been patched in the Ubuntu Linux 14.10 operating system on April 9, 2015. The Utopic Unicorn distribution is currently powered by Linux kernel 3.16.0.

Here are the security issues fixed in the kernel packages of Ubuntu 14.10

The first security issue is related to an integer overflow that has been discovered recently in the Linux kernel's stack randomization feature. The issue affects only 64-bit platforms and could allow a local attacker to bypass the ASLR (Address Space Layout Randomization) protection mechanism.

The second security issue fixed in Ubuntu 14.10 is related to an information leak that has been discovered in the Linux kernel's handling of userspace configuration of the LLC (Link Layer Control), which could allows a local user to read data from other sysctl settings.

The third security issue is released to another information leak, this time discovered in Linux kernel's function that handles the RDS (Reliable Datagram Sockets) settings. The issue could allow a local user to read data from other sysctl settings.

All Ubuntu 14.10 users should update their systems immediately

The security flaws detailed above can be fixed if you upgrade your system(s) to the linux-image-3.16.0-34 (3.16.0-34.45) for your architecture. To apply the update, open the Unity Dash, search for and open the Update Manager tool, wait the available updates to be loaded from the main Ubuntu servers, and then update the distribution.

Savvy Ubuntu users have an easier method to update their Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn) operating systems. Just open a terminal window, run the 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade' command, and wait for the updates to be applied. Don't forget to reboot your computer after the upgrade!