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I just downloaded and installed the latest security patch for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS using Update Manager as instructed.

I was under the impression that the new kernel version after upgrade would be 4.13, however when running this command uname -r in my terminal, it is still showing 4.10.0-42-generic

Is this correct? Is there a way to confirm that the patch has been successful?

Zanna
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crypme
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  • At least for the linux-generic-hwe-16.04 kernels, a fix has not yet been released. I've been watching all day, and have not seen any releases for the 4.10 kernels. – Organic Marble Jan 10 '18 at 01:57
  • @OrganicMarble if no release has been made... then why was there a security update (labeled kernel) avaialble to me when running Update Manager? – crypme Jan 10 '18 at 02:01
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    @OrganicMarble This is from the Security Team page - 2018 Jan 09: Ubuntu kernel updates are made available in USN 3522-1 (Ubuntu 16.04 LTS), USN 3523-1 (Ubuntu 17.10), USN 3522-2 (Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (HWE)), and USN-3524-1 (Ubuntu 14.04 LTS). – crypme Jan 10 '18 at 02:01
  • You could check the apt logs and see exactly what you got. And, perhaps you are not running the linux-generic-hwe-16.04 kernels. – Organic Marble Jan 10 '18 at 02:01
  • I know what they said, but I haven't seen them on Ubuntuupdates.org, or on my system. My 14.04 system got an update to the 4.4 kernel. – Organic Marble Jan 10 '18 at 02:02
  • @OrganicMarble... thank you for responding. How do I check those logs? – crypme Jan 10 '18 at 02:02
  • Just look at the text file /var/log/apt/history.log – Organic Marble Jan 10 '18 at 02:03
  • @OrganicMarble it is not showing... but then I did not use the apt-get command in terminal for this upgrade. I used Update Manager as outlined in the instructions. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Security/Upgrades – crypme Jan 10 '18 at 02:09
  • On my 14.04 system I got a regular kernel update that incremented from 4.4.0-103 to 4.4.0-104. I expect when the 4.10 ones come out, they will bump the numbers. – Organic Marble Jan 10 '18 at 02:13
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    Argh... this whole thing is a pain. :( it would be nice if Linux team understood that there are people who are trying to break into the Linux world from Windows, that do not fully undersand everything about this new world. When there are such important updates coming out... it would be nice if they broke it down in a way that newbies could understand. – crypme Jan 10 '18 at 02:17
  • @ChaiT.Rex that page you linked to does nothing for a newbie like me. If ubuntu wants mass adoption of its software and bring users over from the windows world... they need to greatly improve communication on important security issues and updates in a way that works for non techies. windows is good at this... which is why they have bigger marketshare. – crypme Jan 10 '18 at 03:03
  • I doubt that that's the reason why they have bigger marketshare, since most users could care less about security details. As far as that page, the first answer says "For developers and other early adopters, candidate kernels have been made available" and "The Ubuntu Security Team is maintaining their current status on these issues at…", where, at that link, they say "The Rolling HWE kernel for Ubuntu 16.04 will go to 4.13 early, instead of also fixing 4.10 HWE kernel." and "linux-hwe-edge: 4.13.0-25.29~16.04.1", so if you have 4.10, it's not the updated kernel and the fix is in 4.13.0-25.29. – Chai T. Rex Jan 10 '18 at 03:29
  • 4.13.0-26 is now out for 16.04 HWE, and this answer can be used to detect whether it patches Meltdown (it does for me). – Chai T. Rex Jan 10 '18 at 21:33

1 Answers1

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NO EXPERT HERE; However, I saw something similar last night Jan 10, when I let Ubuntu install the latest Ubuntu 16.04 update. So far, no problems.

After updating Grub2, My Terminal uname -a command yields: 

Linux 4.13.0-26-generic #29~16.04.2-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jan 9 22:00:44 UTC 2018 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Guessing 4.13 is installed and your Grub isn't pointing to it. Look for it when booting in the Grub boot menu.

You could start Terminal and List all kernels including the current booted using command:

dpkg --list | grep linux-image

or

I checked the installation log using Gedit

/var/log/dpkg.log

and found the following line: 

upgrade linux-generic-hwe-16.04:amd64 4.10.0.42.44 4.13.0.26.46

indicating the 4.13 upgrade started.

I use "Grub Customizer" to maintain my Grub. Be extremely careful, if you use it. Search for "How to Install Grub Customizer 5.0.5 in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS" . It will install the latest version. Mine is 5.0.6.

Zanna
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Raleightom
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