Advisory Published

USN-4171-3: Apport regression

First published: Tue Nov 05 2019(Updated: )

USN-4171-1 fixed vulnerabilities in Apport. The update caused a regression in the Python Apport library. This update fixes the problem. We apologize for the inconvenience. Original advisory details: Kevin Backhouse discovered Apport would read its user-controlled settings file as the root user. This could be used by a local attacker to possibly crash Apport or have other unspecified consequences. (CVE-2019-11481) Sander Bos discovered a race-condition in Apport during core dump creation. This could be used by a local attacker to generate a crash report for a privileged process that is readable by an unprivileged user. (CVE-2019-11482) Sander Bos discovered Apport mishandled crash dumps originating from containers. This could be used by a local attacker to generate a crash report for a privileged process that is readable by an unprivileged user. (CVE-2019-11483) Sander Bos discovered Apport mishandled lock-file creation. This could be used by a local attacker to cause a denial of service against Apport. (CVE-2019-11485) Kevin Backhouse discovered Apport read various process-specific files with elevated privileges during crash dump generation. This could could be used by a local attacker to generate a crash report for a privileged process that is readable by an unprivileged user. (CVE-2019-15790)

Affected SoftwareAffected VersionHow to fix
All of
ubuntu/apport<2.20.11-0ubuntu8.2
2.20.11-0ubuntu8.2
Ubuntu OpenSSH Client=19.10
All of
ubuntu/python-apport<2.20.11-0ubuntu8.2
2.20.11-0ubuntu8.2
Ubuntu OpenSSH Client=19.10
All of
ubuntu/python3-apport<2.20.11-0ubuntu8.2
2.20.11-0ubuntu8.2
Ubuntu OpenSSH Client=19.10
All of
ubuntu/apport<2.20.10-0ubuntu27.3
2.20.10-0ubuntu27.3
Ubuntu OpenSSH Client=19.04
All of
ubuntu/python-apport<2.20.10-0ubuntu27.3
2.20.10-0ubuntu27.3
Ubuntu OpenSSH Client=19.04
All of
ubuntu/python3-apport<2.20.10-0ubuntu27.3
2.20.10-0ubuntu27.3
Ubuntu OpenSSH Client=19.04
All of
ubuntu/apport<2.20.9-0ubuntu7.9
2.20.9-0ubuntu7.9
Ubuntu OpenSSH Client=18.04
All of
ubuntu/python-apport<2.20.9-0ubuntu7.9
2.20.9-0ubuntu7.9
Ubuntu OpenSSH Client=18.04
All of
ubuntu/python3-apport<2.20.9-0ubuntu7.9
2.20.9-0ubuntu7.9
Ubuntu OpenSSH Client=18.04
All of
ubuntu/apport<2.20.1-0ubuntu2.21
2.20.1-0ubuntu2.21
Ubuntu OpenSSH Client=16.04
All of
ubuntu/python-apport<2.20.1-0ubuntu2.21
2.20.1-0ubuntu2.21
Ubuntu OpenSSH Client=16.04
All of
ubuntu/python3-apport<2.20.1-0ubuntu2.21
2.20.1-0ubuntu2.21
Ubuntu OpenSSH Client=16.04

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Reference Links

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the severity of USN-4171-3?

    The severity of USN-4171-3 is not explicitly stated, but it addresses a regression in the Apport library that could affect functionality.

  • How do I fix USN-4171-3?

    To fix USN-4171-3, update the Apport package to version 2.20.11-0ubuntu8.2 or the appropriate version for your Ubuntu release.

  • What components are affected by USN-4171-3?

    USN-4171-3 affects the Apport, python-apport, and python3-apport packages across various versions of Ubuntu.

  • Which Ubuntu versions are impacted by USN-4171-3?

    USN-4171-3 impacts Ubuntu versions 16.04, 18.04, 19.04, and 19.10.

  • Who discovered the issue addressed in USN-4171-3?

    The regression addressed in USN-4171-3 was discovered by Kevin Backhouse.

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