Overly broad permissions can turn one compromised account into a much larger security problem. Learn how to reduce unnecessary access, review privileges, and apply least privilege across modern Linux systems. Review Linux Privileges×

Alerts This Week
Warning Icon 1 477
Alerts This Week
Warning Icon 1 477

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6: RHSA-2013:0744-01 Important: Kernel DoS

red hat
Calendar Grey April 23, 2013
Scroller Redhat
The latest kernel updates for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 rectify several critical vulnerabilities and system malfunctions.
Updated kernel packages that fix multiple security issues and several bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

Solution

This update also fixes several bugs. Documentation for these changes will be available shortly from the Technical Notes document linked to in the References section.

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.

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

Security:
* An integer overflow flaw, leading to a heap-based buffer overflow, was found in the way the Intel i915 driver in the Linux kernel handled the allocation of the buffer used for relocation copies. A local user with console access could use this flaw to cause a denial of service or escalate their privileges. (CVE-2013-0913, Important)
* A buffer overflow flaw was found in the way UTF-8 characters were converted to UTF-16 in the utf8s_to_utf16s() function of the Linux kernel's FAT file system implementation. A local user able to mount a FAT file system with the "utf8=1" option could use this flaw to crash the system or, potentially, to escalate their privileges. (CVE-2013-1773, Important)
* A flaw was found in the way KVM handled guest time updates when the buffer the guest registered by writing to the MSR_KVM_SYSTEM_TIME machine state register (MSR) crossed a page boundary. A privileged guest user could use this flaw to crash the host or, potentially, escalate their privileges, allowing them to execute arbitrary code at the host kernel level. (CVE-2013-1796, Important)
* A potential use-after-free flaw was found in the way KVM handled guest time updates when the GPA (guest physical address) the guest registered by writing to the MSR_KVM_SYSTEM_TIME machine state register (MSR) fell into a movable or removable memory region of the hosting user-space process (by default, QEMU-KVM) on the host. If that memory region is deregistered from KVM using KVM_SET_USER_MEMORY_REGION and the allocated virtual memory reused, a privileged guest user could potentially use this flaw to escalate their privileges on the host. (CVE-2013-1797, Important)
* A flaw was found in the way KVM emulated IOAPIC (I/O Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller). A missing validation check in the ioapic_read_indirect() function could allow a privileged guest user to crash the host, or read a substantial portion of host kernel memory. (CVE-2013-1798, Important)
* A race condition in install_user_keyrings(), leading to a NULL pointer dereference, was found in the key management facility. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2013-1792, Moderate)
* A NULL pointer dereference in the XFRM implementation could allow a local user who has the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2013-1826, Moderate)
* A NULL pointer dereference in the Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP) implementation could allow a local user to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2013-1827, Moderate)
* Information leak flaws in the XFRM implementation could allow a local user who has the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability to leak kernel stack memory to user-space. (CVE-2012-6537, Low)
* Two information leak flaws in the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) subsystem could allow a local, unprivileged user to leak kernel stack memory to user-space. (CVE-2012-6546, Low)
* An information leak was found in the TUN/TAP device driver in the networking implementation. A local user with access to a TUN/TAP virtual interface could use this flaw to leak kernel stack memory to user-space. (CVE-2012-6547, Low)
* An information leak in the Bluetooth implementation could allow a local user who has the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability to leak kernel stack memory to user-space. (CVE-2013-0349, Low)
* A use-after-free flaw was found in the tmpfs implementation. A local user able to mount and unmount a tmpfs file system could use this flaw to cause a denial of service or, potentially, escalate their privileges. (CVE-2013-1767, Low)
* A NULL pointer dereference was found in the Linux kernel's USB Inside Out Edgeport Serial Driver implementation. An attacker with physical access to a system could use this flaw to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2013-1774, Low)
Red Hat would like to thank Andrew Honig of Google for reporting CVE-2013-1796, CVE-2013-1797, and CVE-2013-1798. CVE-2013-1792 was discovered by Mateusz Guzik of Red Hat EMEA GSS SEG Team.

References

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-6537 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-6546 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-6547 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-0349 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-0913 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-1767 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-1773 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-1774 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-1792 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-1796 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-1797 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-1798 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-1826 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2013-1827 https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important https://access.redhat.com/site/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6/html/6.4_Technical_Notes/kernel.html

Package List

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6):
Source:
i386: kernel-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-debug-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-debuginfo-common-i686-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-devel-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.i686.rpm kernel-headers-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.i686.rpm perf-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.i686.rpm perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.i686.rpm python-perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.i686.rpm
noarch: kernel-doc-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.noarch.rpm kernel-firmware-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.noarch.rpm
x86_64: kernel-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-debug-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-devel-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.x86_64.rpm kernel-headers-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.x86_64.rpm perf-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.x86_64.rpm perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.x86_64.rpm python-perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6):
Source:
i386: kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-358.6.1.el6.i686.rpm

Read the Full Advisory


Severity
important
Lowest
Low
Medium
High
Critical

Advisory ID: RHSA-2013:0744-01
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Issue date: 2013-04-23

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix multiple security issues and several bugsare now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as havingimportant security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) basescores, which give detailed severity ratings, are available for eachvulnerability from the CVE links in the References section.

Relevant Releases Architectures

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) - i386, noarch, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) - i386, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) - noarch, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) - x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) - i386, noarch, ppc64, s390x, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) - i386, ppc64, s390x, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) - i386, noarch, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) - i386, x86_64

Bugs Fixed

914298 - CVE-2013-0349 kernel: bluetooth HIDP implementation information disclosure

915592 - CVE-2013-1767 Kernel: tmpfs: fix use-after-free of mempolicy object

916115 - CVE-2013-1773 kernel: VFAT slab-based buffer overflow

916191 - CVE-2013-1774 Kernel: USB io_ti driver NULL pointer dereference in routine chase_port

916646 - CVE-2013-1792 Kernel: keys: race condition in install_user_keyrings()

917012 - CVE-2013-1796 kernel: kvm: buffer overflow in handling of MSR_KVM_SYSTEM_TIME

917013 - CVE-2013-1797 kernel: kvm: after free issue with the handling of MSR_KVM_SYSTEM_TIME

917017 - CVE-2013-1798 kernel: kvm: out-of-bounds access in ioapic indirect register reads

919164 - CVE-2013-1827 Kernel: dccp: check ccid before NULL poiter dereference

919384 - CVE-2013-1826 Kernel: xfrm_user: return error pointer instead of NULL

920471 - CVE-2013-0913 Kernel: drm/i915: heap writing overflow

922344 - CVE-2012-6547 Kernel: net/tun: ioctl() based information leaks

922383 - CVE-2012-6546 Kernel: atm: information leak in getsockopt & getsockname

922424 - CVE-2012-6537 Kernel: xfrm_user information leaks copy_to_user_

Get the latest News and Insights

Get the latest Linux and open source security news straight to your inbox.