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Meltdown and Spectre Patches Bricking Ubuntu 16.04 Computers (bleepingcomputer.com)

Posted by msmash on from the things-going-south dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Ubuntu Xenial 16.04 users who updated to receive the Meltdown and Spectre patches are reporting they are unable to boot their systems and have been forced to roll back to an earlier Linux kernel image. The issues were reported by a large number of users on the Ubuntu forums and Ubuntu's Launchpad bug tracker. Only Ubuntu users running the Xenial 16.04 series appear to be affected.

All users who reported issues said they were unable to boot after upgrading to Ubuntu 16.04 with kernel image 4.4.0-108. Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu OS, deployed Linux kernel image 4.4.0-108 as part of a security update for Ubuntu Xenial 16.04 users, yesterday, on January 9. According to Ubuntu Security Notice USN-3522-1 and an Ubuntu Wiki page, this was the update that delivered the Meltdown and Spectre patches.

7 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. Ultimate security by OrangeTide · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let those hackers try and get into my system now!

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  2. Re:Bricked!!?!?! Oh wow! by El_Muerte_TDS · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's 2018, we have SmartBricks now. You can change the software of your SmartBricks.

  3. Re:Bricked!!?!?! Oh wow! by ThanatosMinor · · Score: 5, Funny

    Article title updated because we used the term "bricking" incorrectly. Bleeping Computer regrets the error.

    We apologise for the fault in the title. Those responsible have been sacked.

  4. Re:Bricked!!?!?! Oh wow! by religionofpeas · · Score: 5, Funny

    We apologise for the fault in the title. Those responsible have been sacked.

    You mean, they've been bricked.

  5. Re:Bricked!!?!?! Oh wow! by fibonacci8 · · Score: 4, Funny

    We apologise for the fault in the title. Those responsible have been sacked.

    You mean, they've been bricked.

    A brick once bit my sister.

    --
    Inheritance is the sincerest form of nepotism.
  6. Re:Bricked!!?!?! Oh wow! by viperidaenz · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nah, if you have to press a key during the boot process to bring up a boot menu and select the previous kernel, then it's bricked.

  7. Re:Baby out with the bathwater by Merk42 · · Score: 5, Funny

    You know what's pushing this on the average Joe? DRM. Microsoft can't let those DRM keys leak... and now that the flaw is known, that's exactly what *could* happen. This isn't about user's data falling into evil-hacker's hands...

    Ah Slashdot, where a vulnerability from Intel and a bad patch from Canonical, is still, somehow, Microsoft's fault.