Red Hat, Ubuntu issue warnings over Linux kernel vulnerability

Red Hat and Ubuntu have issued warnings about a serious vulnerability in their Linux distributions.

It’s described as a heap-based buffer overflow flaw (CVE 2022-0185). According to Ubuntu, the file system context functionality in the Linux kernel contained an integer underflow vulnerability, leading to an out-of-bounds write. A local attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (system crash) or execute arbitrary code.

As The Register notes, the discovery also comes as Ubuntu 21.04 reached end of life, so rather than apply Ubutu’s mitigation to servers running this version, Linux admins should upgrade them to version 21.10, and apply a patch to it.

According to 9to5 Linux, the security vulnerability affects all supported Ubuntu releases, including Ubuntu 21.10 (dubbed Impish Indri) systems running Linux kernel 5.13, Ubuntu 21.04 (Hirsute Hippo) systems running Linux kernel 5.11, as well as Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) and Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) systems running Linux kernel 5.4 LTS.

Red Hat says the issue affects the Linux kernel packages shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 GA onwards. Previous Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions are not affected.

On Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, where the default restricted SCC (Security Context Constraint) is used, this issue is not exploitable.

To mitigate the issue on installations of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 that aren’t running containers, admins can disable user namespaces by setting user.max_user_namespaces to 0. Note that on containerized deployments, such as Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, this mitigation cannot be applied.

Fixes have been issued for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support.

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

Howard Solomon
Howard Solomon
Currently a freelance writer, I'm the former editor of ITWorldCanada.com and Computing Canada. An IT journalist since 1997, I've written for several of ITWC's sister publications including ITBusiness.ca and Computer Dealer News. Before that I was a staff reporter at the Calgary Herald and the Brampton (Ont.) Daily Times. I can be reached at hsolomon [@] soloreporter.com

Featured Articles

Cybersecurity in 2024: Priorities and challenges for Canadian organizations 

By Derek Manky As predictions for 2024 point to the continued expansion...

Survey shows generative AI is a top priority for Canadian corporate leaders.

Leaders are devoting significant budget to generative AI for 2024 Canadian corporate...

Related Tech News

Tech Jobs

Our experienced team of journalists and bloggers bring you engaging in-depth interviews, videos and content targeted to IT professionals and line-of-business executives.

Tech Companies Hiring Right Now