Livepatch

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= IN PROGRESS =

= Overview =

The Canonical Livepatch Service is Available to all Ubuntu Advantage customers, and also for personal use for free up to a maximum of three Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and 14.04 LTS systems. It updates your Ubuntu your systems with the highest and most critical security vulnerabilities, without requiring a reboot in order to take effect.		 = Kernel Livepatch =
This is a collection of notes and FAQs for the [[https://www.ubuntu.com/server/livepatch | Canonical Livepatch Service]]. That page has a general introduction, data sheet and the ability to sign up for the service.
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The Livepatch service is available for the generic flavour of the 64-bit Intel/AMD (aka, x86_64, amd64) builds of the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial) kernel, which is a Linux 4.4 kernel, as well as Ubuntu 14.04 LTS running the Linux 4.4 [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack|Hardware Enablement kernel]]. It works with unmodified Ubuntu kernels on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and 14.04 LTS Servers and Desktops, on physical machines, virtual machines, and in the cloud. As mentioned before, Ubuntu 14.04 LTS systems must use the Hardware Enablement kernel. Additionally, network access to the Canonical Livepatch Service (https://livepatch.canonical.com:443) and the latest version of snapd (at least 2.15) are needed. || Ubuntu release || Arch || Kernel Version || Kernel Variants ||
|| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS || 64-bit x86 || 4.4 || GA generic and lowlatency kernel variants only ||
|| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS || 64-bit x86 || 4.4 || [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack|Hardware Enablement kernel]] only ||
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== How to get security notices for Livepatch == Additionally, network access to the Canonical Livepatch Service (https://livepatch.canonical.com:443) and the latest version of snapd (at least 2.15) are needed.
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When a Livepatch is released, it is announced as a Kernel Live Patch Security Notice (LSN) in the [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-security-announce|Ubuntu Security Announcements]] mailing list. If a high/critical Kernel CVE is not able to be livepatched, a LSN notice will still go out to describing why. A normal [[https://usn.ubuntu.com/usn/|Ubuntu security notice]] (USN) will be released with packages along side it. Subscribe to the mailing list to get USN and LSN notifications. == Security Notices ==
Livepatch Security Notices (LSN) are only available by subscribing to the [[https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-security-announce|Ubuntu Security Announcements]] mailing list. LSNs will be released for:
 * Announcing a new livepatch.
 * An alert if a livepatch cannot be released describing why and possible mitigation notes.
   * a standard [[https://usn.ubuntu.com/usn/|Ubuntu security notice]] (USN) will be released with packages along side it to fix the issue.
   * the livepatch client will start issuing a warning that an update and reboot is necessary.

'''NOTE'''
You must subscribe to the mailing list. The USN RSS Feed, CVE tracker, and other services do not know about Livepatch Security Notices.
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=== How do you rate a CVE? ===
We do not use an external rating system, but rate based on these qualifications:
|| '''negligible''' || Something that is technically a security problem, but is only theoretical in nature, requires a very special situation, has almost no install base, or does no real damage. These tend not to get backport from upstreams, and will likely not be included in security updates unless there is an easy fix and some other issue causes an update.||
|| '''low''' || Something that is a security problem, but is hard to exploit due to environment, requires a user-assisted attack, a small install base, or does very little damage. These tend to be included in security updates only when higher priority issues require an update, or if many low priority issues have built up.||
|| '''medium''' || Something is a real security problem, and is exploitable for many people. Includes network daemon denial of service attacks, cross-site scripting, and gaining user privileges. Updates should be made soon for this priority of issue.||
|| '''high''' || A real problem, exploitable for many people in a default installation. Includes serious remote denial of services, local root privilege escalations, or data loss.||
|| '''critical''' || A world-burning problem, exploitable for nearly all people in a default installation of Ubuntu. Includes remote root privilege escalations, or massive data loss.||

Kernel Livepatch

This is a collection of notes and FAQs for the Canonical Livepatch Service. That page has a general introduction, data sheet and the ability to sign up for the service.

System Requirements

Ubuntu release

Arch

Kernel Version

Kernel Variants

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

64-bit x86

4.4

GA generic and lowlatency kernel variants only

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

64-bit x86

4.4

Hardware Enablement kernel only

Additionally, network access to the Canonical Livepatch Service (https://livepatch.canonical.com:443) and the latest version of snapd (at least 2.15) are needed.

Security Notices

Livepatch Security Notices (LSN) are only available by subscribing to the Ubuntu Security Announcements mailing list. LSNs will be released for:

  • Announcing a new livepatch.
  • An alert if a livepatch cannot be released describing why and possible mitigation notes.

    • a standard Ubuntu security notice (USN) will be released with packages along side it to fix the issue.

    • the livepatch client will start issuing a warning that an update and reboot is necessary.

NOTE You must subscribe to the mailing list. The USN RSS Feed, CVE tracker, and other services do not know about Livepatch Security Notices.

FAQ

What kinds of updates will be provided by the Canonical Livepatch Service?

The Livepatch Service intends to address high and critical severity Linux kernel security vulnerabilities, as identified by Ubuntu Security Notices and the CVE tracker. Since there are limitations to the kernel livepatch technology, some Linux kernel code paths cannot be safely patched while running. There may be occasions when the traditional kernel upgrade and reboot might still be necessary.

How do you rate a CVE?

We do not use an external rating system, but rate based on these qualifications:

negligible

Something that is technically a security problem, but is only theoretical in nature, requires a very special situation, has almost no install base, or does no real damage. These tend not to get backport from upstreams, and will likely not be included in security updates unless there is an easy fix and some other issue causes an update.

low

Something that is a security problem, but is hard to exploit due to environment, requires a user-assisted attack, a small install base, or does very little damage. These tend to be included in security updates only when higher priority issues require an update, or if many low priority issues have built up.

medium

Something is a real security problem, and is exploitable for many people. Includes network daemon denial of service attacks, cross-site scripting, and gaining user privileges. Updates should be made soon for this priority of issue.

high

A real problem, exploitable for many people in a default installation. Includes serious remote denial of services, local root privilege escalations, or data loss.

critical

A world-burning problem, exploitable for nearly all people in a default installation of Ubuntu. Includes remote root privilege escalations, or massive data loss.

azzar1/Kernel/Livepatch (last edited 2019-01-29 15:51:42 by azzar1)