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Alerts This Week
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Red Hat: RHSA-2013:0695-01 Critical: Kernel Privilege Escalation

red hat
Calendar Grey April 2, 2013
Scroller Redhat
Security update for the kernel in Red Hat Enterprise Linux aimed at resolving a race condition that could allow privilege escalation. Recommended to upgrade.
Updated kernel packages that fix one security issue are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 Extended Update Support

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously-released errata relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via the Red Hat Network. Details on how to use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at https://access.redhat.com/knowledge/articles/11258

To install kernel packages manually, use "rpm -ivh [package]". Do not use "rpm -Uvh" as that will remove the running kernel binaries from your system. You may use "rpm -e" to remove old kernels after determining that the new kernel functions properly on your system.

Summary

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux operating system.
This update fixes the following security issue:
* A race condition was found in the way the Linux kernel's ptrace implementation handled PTRACE_SETREGS requests when the debuggee was woken due to a SIGKILL signal instead of being stopped. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to escalate their privileges. (CVE-2013-0871, Important)
Users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain a backported patch to correct this issue. The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.

References

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-0871 https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important

Package List

Red Hat Enterprise Linux EUS (v. 5.6 server):
Source: kernel-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.src.rpm
i386: kernel-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i686.rpm kernel-PAE-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i686.rpm kernel-PAE-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i686.rpm kernel-PAE-devel-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i686.rpm kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i686.rpm kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i686.rpm kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i686.rpm kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i686.rpm kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i686.rpm kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i686.rpm kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i386.rpm kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i686.rpm kernel-xen-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i686.rpm kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.i686.rpm
ia64: kernel-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.ia64.rpm kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.ia64.rpm kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.ia64.rpm kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.ia64.rpm kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.ia64.rpm kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.ia64.rpm kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.ia64.rpm kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.ia64.rpm kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.ia64.rpm kernel-xen-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.ia64.rpm kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.ia64.rpm
noarch: kernel-doc-2.6.18-238.49.1.el5.noarch.rpm


Read the Full Advisory


Severity
important
Lowest
Low
Medium
High
Critical

Advisory ID: RHSA-2013:0695-01
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Issue date: 2013-04-02

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix one security issue are now available forRed Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 Extended Update Support.The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as havingimportant security impact. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS)base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available from theCVE link in the References section.

Relevant Releases Architectures

Red Hat Enterprise Linux EUS (v. 5.6 server) - i386, ia64, noarch, ppc, s390x, x86_64

Bugs Fixed

911937 - CVE-2013-0871 kernel: race condition with PTRACE_SETREGS

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