Emergency update for anonymizing Linux Tails

The Tails maintainers have released the emergency update to version 6.14.2. It closes security gaps.

listen Print view
Tails desktop on notebook

Tails 6.14.2 is an emergency security update.

(Image: heise online / dmk)

2 min. read

The makers of the anonymizing Linux distribution Tails have released version 6.14.2 as an emergency update. It closes security gaps in the Linux kernel and the Perl interpreter.

The Tails developers explain the changes in the version announcement. On the one hand, Tails 6.14.2 upgrades the kernel to version 6.1.133 – and plugs several security holes that attackers could misuse for privilege escalation or unauthorized access to information. The associated Debian message contains a batch of 108 CVE entries, which are corrected with the updated version.

This could undermine the confidentiality of the anonymizing Linux. This is also possible due to another vulnerability in the Perl interpreter. Attackers can exploit a heap-based buffer overflow to paralyze the software or potentially even inject and execute malicious code (CVE-2024-56406, no specific risk assessment currently available).

Videos by heise

Other software components have not been significantly updated. Anyone using Tails should update to the new version immediately so as not to jeopardize the anonymization functions. As usual, current images are available for shipping on USB sticks and for DVDs or use in the VM.

Two weeks ago, the Tails developers released version 6.14.1. While testing the 6.14 version, they encountered problems that were corrected and then went straight out with the increased version number. In this version, they corrected the integration of the Tor browser and some minor bugs. By switching to AppArmor, there is now more freedom without compromising security, such as more locations for saving files.

(dmk)

Don't miss any news – follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Mastodon.

This article was originally published in German. It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.