Holding off On Debian 12 Updates

[Alexzee]

A article that saved my sanity with links to help and explain the kernel 6.1.64-1 bug.

Holding Off On Your Debian 12 Updates

The Debian Team discovered a ext4 data corruption issue in kernel 6.1.64-1. This information was posted on Dec. 9, 2023. https://micronews.debian.org/2023/1702150551.html The Debian maintainer and other Debian Team members discuss it here...

writerforlinux.wixsite.com

 

[Oldhabbits]

Already solved with stable kernel 6.1.66, ready for you to download.
Cheers,
Eddy

 

[Alexzee]

Already solved with stable kernel 6.1.66, ready for you to download.
Cheers,
Eddy

It looks like that kernel is installed on my system. However it's using kernel
6.1.0-16-amd64.

debian-box:~$ dpkg --list | grep linux-image
ii  linux-image-6.1.0-15-amd64               6.1.66-1                             amd64        Linux 6.1 for 64-bit PCs (signed)
ii  linux-image-6.1.0-16-amd64               6.1.67-1                             amd64        Linux 6.1 for 64-bit PCs (signed)
ii  linux-image-amd64                        6.1.67-1                             amd64        Linux for 64-bit PCs (meta-package)

Are you certain it's safe to proceed with updating the system?

 

[wizardfromoz]

However it's using kernel
6.1.0-16-amd64.

No, you're fine, Alex - that is a naming convention used by Debian (Ubuntu and others do this too).

Your actual kernel is seen on the same line, it's 6.1.67 and that's OK to go.

I have updated mine.

More, perhaps on my tomorrow.

Chris

 

[Alexzee]

No, you're fine, Alex - that is a naming convention used by Debian (Ubuntu and others do this too).

Your actual kernel is seen on the same line, it's 6.1.67 and that's OK to go.

I have updated mine.

More, perhaps on my tomorrow.

Chris

Thanks for confirming that Chris!

Running uname -a shows kernel 6.1.0-16....yet at the end of that line another kernel (6.1.67-1) is shown. Maybe I don't understand the naming convention?

uname -a
Linux debian-box 6.1.0-16-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.1.67-1 (2023-12-12) x86_64 GNU/Linux

The actual kernel that is in use on this Debian 12 system is: 6.1.67-1...., right?

 

[Brickwizard]

Er not quite, its 6.1.0-16 the 6-1-67-1 is a patch issued by Debian

Debian Patches

 

[Alexzee]

Er not quite, its 6.1.0-16 the 6-1-67-1 is a patch issued by Debian

Debian Patches

The status of that kernel and the patches on that page are helpful, thanks Brickwizard!

Subscribing to the Debian Mailing List really helps. Here's today's message that was in my inbox.

Jonathan Wiltshire <[email protected]>
    
Attachments9:01 AM (5 hours ago)
    
to debian-stable-announce
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Debian Stable Updates Announcement SUA 249-1     https://www.debian.org
[email protected]                         Scott Kitterman
December 29th, 2023
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Package              : postfix
Version              : 3.7.9-0+deb12u1 [bookworm]
                     : 3.5.23-0+deb11u1 [bullseye]
Importance           : medium

Postfix is a high-performance mail transport agent.

This update consists of recommended upstream bug fixes since the versions
in bullseye and bookworm. In particular, a fix for CVE-2023-51764 (SMTP
smuggling) requires a configuration change to take full effect.

The configuration change is not done automatically to avoid causing issues
with existing installations. Users should consult the relevant Postfix
documentation [1] before setting "smtpd_forbid_bare_newline = yes" in the
main.cf file.

 1: https://www.postfix.org/smtp-smuggling.html


Upgrade Instructions
--------------------

You can get the updated packages by adding the stable-updates archive
for your distribution to your /etc/apt/sources.list:

 deb https://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main
 deb-src https://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main

  or

 deb https://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main
 deb-src https://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main

Cheers-
Alex

 

[wendy-lebaron]

It's as the Wizard said. Debian like "versioning" their kernels the way they want. That is, they like zero as the third digit. So for an LTS series which is 6.1.66, that third number could be "66" or anything else, it's always zero. Then right after that zero, a dash and the number of times they had to recompile the kernel. That is, like a sub-release for the current stable release of Debian we're currently on. So for v6.1.0-16-amd64 they have done it 16 times up to that one for the 64-bit kernel. Note that third digit is always zero...

I forgot to add that for "Bullseye" it is currently 26 times the Debian kernel based on v5.10 LTS for that has been remade, as in v5.10.0-26-amd64 for 64-bit systems. I'm on Spiral KDE right now based on "Bullseye", around for over a year. Neofetch tells me I have v6.1.0-0.deb11.11-amd64. Adding to confusion could be the "deb" inside the whole version string but it ensures the operating system is Debian or directly based on it.

If you take a closer look at "apt" doing its duty, you would see what Debian calls one of the kernels they "version", and what is actually called in LTS in parenthesis further down in the phrase. Although it's easy to get confused by all the number-and-symbol mumbo-jumbo.

This should be alike for Spiral Linux based on "Bookworm" at this time, but the kernel they get from backports is based on v6.4. Probably like Debian "Sid".

 

[wizardfromoz]

It's as the Wizard said.

Wendy is correct, although with the

6.1.67-1

... the -1 may indicate a patch. (I could be wrong on that)

So Alex has 6.1.67 kernel and that is good for updates.

 

[wizardfromoz]

For an example of the 3 sets of digits display, you can take a look here at kernel.org

https://www.kernel.org/

Wiz