[SOLVED]January 9, 2018: Has anyone received the promised security updates for Meltdown?

[Sir Charles]

I just wondered if anybody has received the kernel security patches which were due to roll out today?

[xenopeek]

No, as they are not released yet. You can follow progress here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SecurityTeam/Kn ... ndMeltdown

Firefox has already been updated on all Linux Mint editions and that has mitigation built in so that JavaScript can't exploit these bugs. What other untrusted code do you run on your system, aside from JavaScript from websites? For most home users upgrading their web browser effectively removes the theoretical threat that these bugs pose.

[Sir Charles]

Alright, thank you for your reply!
The only applications whose PPA I have added to my sources are Grub Customizer, Ukuu and Firefox Nightly.
I have installed Chrome dev edition as well by downloading the .deb-file from the official site. The PPA was added automatically to the Software Sources.

[xenopeek]

You should check yourself if those web browsers from those repositories already include the mitigation. I can only speak for Firefox from Linux Mint's repositories.

[Sir Charles]

I know that Firefox Nightly does include the patches. I suppose that Chrome Dev also has them implemented since the feature were going to be included in version 54 and above but I have to check that out. BTW, do you think installing JavaScript blocker extension is good as a second line of defence?

[xenopeek]

I think that's pointless. Just use a browser with mitigation and move on. There are no tangible threats out there and these bugs are not trivial to exploit.

BTW, LMDE 2 has just received kernel 3.16.51-3+deb8u1 which fixes variant 3 (Meltdown).

[Sir Charles]

Sure, that's good to hear, thank you!

[Sir Charles]

Security notice: Meltdown and Spectre
https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3496

[karlchen]

Question:

Has anyone received the promised security updates for Meltdown?

Answer:
Yes, those security updates which match the software installed on my Linux Mint 18.1 Cinnamon 64-bit.

Kernel:

Code: Select all

$ uname -a
Linux voyager 4.4.0-109-generic #132-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jan 9 19:52:39 UTC 2018 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Firefox:

Code: Select all

$ dpkg --list firefox | grep "^ii"
ii  firefox        57.0.4+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1 amd64        Safe and easy web browser from Mozilla

[Sir Charles]

But KPTI patches for 4.13, not yet?

[Schultz]

So they released a new 4.4 kernel? I've gotten nothing yet for 4.13.

[Sir Charles]

So they released a new 4.4 kernel? I've gotten nothing yet for 4.13.

Good news! The long awaited kernel update for 4.13 is finally there!
cheers

[karlchen]

Oh, I am so excited.
Last night I received the security for my kernel K4.4.0-108(131).
This evening I received the bugfix for the security fix, kernel K4.4.0-109(132).
I cannot tell how much I am looking forward to tomorrow's kernel security or bugfix or maybe even a combination of both.
I love daily kernel updates.
--
Seriously: I do really appreciate that the Ubuntu people found and corrected their mistake within 24 hours.

[Sir Charles]

I was terrified before for even mentioning the kernel, now it seems that I can't get enough of them. Just bring them on