RHSA-2009-0473: kernel

NASLDB: RHSA-2009-0473: kernel

General

ID: 38709
Name: RHSA-2009-0473: kernel

Summary: Check for the version of the kernel packages

Credits: Tenable Network Security, Inc.

Classification

Risk: –

CVSS: –
CVSS Base Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:N/A:N
CVSS Temporal Vector: –

Port: 0
Family: Red Hat Local Security Checks
Type: Local

Description

Updated kernel packages that fix several security issues and several bugs
are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

This update has been rated as having important security impact by the Red
Hat Security Response Team.

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux
operating system.

This update fixes the following security issues:

* a logic error was found in the do_setlk() function of the Linux kernel
Network File System (NFS) implementation. If a signal interrupted a lock
request, the local POSIX lock was incorrectly created. This could cause a
denial of service on the NFS server if a file descriptor was closed before
its corresponding lock request returned. (CVE-2008-4307, Important)

* a deficiency was found in the Linux kernel system call auditing
implementation on 64-bit systems. This could allow a local, unprivileged
user to circumvent a system call audit configuration, if that configuration
filtered based on the "syscall" number or arguments.
(CVE-2009-0834, Important)

* the exit_notify() function in the Linux kernel did not properly reset the
exit signal if a process executed a set user ID (setuid) application before
exiting. This could allow a local, unprivileged user to elevate their
privileges. (CVE-2009-1337, Important)

* a flaw was found in the ecryptfs_write_metadata_to_contents() function of
the Linux kernel eCryptfs implementation. On systems with a 4096 byte
page-size, this flaw may have caused 4096 bytes of uninitialized kernel
memory to be written into the eCryptfs file headers, leading to an
information leak. Note: Encrypted files created on systems running the
vulnerable version of eCryptfs may contain leaked data in the eCryptfs file
headers. This update does not remove any leaked data. Refer to the
Knowledgebase article in the References section for further information.
(CVE-2009-0787, Moderate)

* the Linux kernel implementation of the Network File System (NFS) did not
properly initialize the file name limit in the nfs_server data structure.
This flaw could possibly lead to a denial of service on a client mounting
an NFS share. (CVE-2009-1336, Moderate)

This update also fixes the following bugs:

* the enic driver (Cisco 10G Ethernet) did not operate under
virtualization. (BZ#472474)

* network interfaces using the IBM eHEA Ethernet device driver could not be
successfully configured under low-memory conditions. (BZ#487035)

* bonding with the "arp_validate=3" option may have prevented fail overs.
(BZ#488064)

* when running under virtualization, the acpi-cpufreq module wrote "Domain
attempted WRMSR" errors to the dmesg log. (BZ#488928)

* NFS clients may have experienced deadlocks during unmount. (BZ#488929)

* the ixgbe driver double counted the number of received bytes and packets.
(BZ#489459)

* the Wacom Intuos3 Lens Cursor device did not work correctly with the
Wacom Intuos3 12×12 tablet. (BZ#489460)

* on the ItaniumÂ® architecture, nanosleep() caused commands which used it,
such as sleep and usleep, to sleep for one second more than expected.
(BZ#490434)

* a panic and corruption of slab cache data structures occurred on 64-bit
PowerPC systems when clvmd was running. (BZ#491677)

* the NONSTOP_TSC feature did not perform correctly on the IntelÂ®
microarchitecture (Nehalem) when running in 32-bit mode. (BZ#493356)

* keyboards may not have functioned on IBM eServer System p machines after
a certain point during installation or afterward. (BZ#494293)

* using Device Mapper Multipathing with the qla2xxx driver resulted in
frequent path failures. (BZ#495635)

* if the hypervisor was booted with the dom0_max_vcpus parameter set to
less than the actual number of CPUs in the system, and the cpuspeed service
was started, the hypervisor could crash. (BZ#495931)

* using Openswan to provide an IPsec virtual private network eventually
resulted in a CPU soft lockup and a system crash. (BZ#496044)

* it was possible for posix_locks_deadlock() to enter an infinite loop
(under the BKL), causing a system hang. (BZ#496842)

Users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported
patches to correct these issues. The system must be rebooted for this
update to take effect.