All Ubuntu users are urged to update as soon as possible

Mar 24, 2015 11:31 GMT  ·  By

Canonical, through John Johansen, has announced earlier today, March 24, that new kernel updates are available for its Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn), Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr), and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) operating systems.

These new kernel packages are here to patch several security issues that have been recently disclosed. All users are urged to update their Ubuntu systems as soon as possible. More details about these new Linux kernel vulnerability can be found here, here, and here.

The new kernels are: linux-image-3.2.0-79 (3.2.0-79.115) for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, linux-image-3.13.0-48 (3.13.0-48.80) for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, and linux-image-3.16.0-33 (3.16.0-33.44) for Ubuntu 14.10. Make sure they match with the ones from your OS after the update.

Here are the security issues that have been patched in today’s updates

These kernel updates for Ubuntu will patch recently discovered flaws in Linux kernel’s crypto subsystem (automatic loading of modules), in the routing of packets function, as well as in the SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol) subsystem.

Furthermore, a flaw in Linux kernel's XFS file system has been repaired, an issue in Linux kernel's splice system call was addressed, a flaw in Linux kernel’s task switching function was patched, and a buffer overflow in eCryptfs' encrypted file name decoding was fixed.

How to apply the new kernel updates on your Ubuntu distribution

To update, open Unity Dash, search for and open the Software Updater tool, wait for the application to find updates, and then click the "Install Now" button when asked if you want to install the updates.

Alternatively, you can open the Unity Dash, search for the Terminal, open a terminal window and run the "sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade" command. Make sure that you reboot your machine(s) after the update.