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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4: RHSA-2009-0981-01 Low: Log Injection Risk

red hat
Calendar Grey May 18, 2009
Dist Redhat Esm H88
A new util-linux release fixes a minor security flaw alongside various bugs. An upgrade is advisable.
An updated util-linux package that fixes one security issue and several bugs is now available

Solution

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

This update is available via Red Hat Network. Details on how to use the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at

Summary

The util-linux package contains a collection of basic system utilities, such as fdisk and mount.
A log injection attack was found in util-linux when logging log in attempts via the audit subsystem of the Linux kernel. A remote attacker could use this flaw to modify certain parts of logged events, possibly hiding their activities on a system. (CVE-2008-1926)
This updated package also fixes the following bugs:
* partitions created by VMware ESX™ were not included in the list of recognized file systems used by fdisk. Consequently, if VMware ESX was installed, "fdisk -l" returned "Unknown" for these partitions. With this update, information regarding the VMKcore and VMFS partitions has been added to the file systems list. On systems running VMware ESX, "fdisk -l" now lists information about these partitions as expected. (BZ#447264)
* if a username was not set, the login command would fail with a Segmentation fault. With this update, login lets the audit system handle NULL usernames (it sends an AUDIT_USER_LOGIN message to the audit system in the event there is no username set). (BZ#456213)
* the nfs(5) man page listed version 2 as the default. This is incorrect: unless otherwise specified, the NFS client uses NFS version 3. The man page has been corrected. (BZ#458539)
* in certain situations, backgrounded NFS mounts died shortly after being backgrounded when the mount command was executed by the initlog command, which, for example, would occur when running an init script, such as running the "service netfs start" command. In these situations, running the "ps -ef" command showed backgrounded NFS mounts disappearing shortly after being backgrounded. In this updated package, backgrounded mount processes detach from the controlling terminal, which resolves this issue. (BZ#461488)
* if a new partition's starting cylinder was beyond one terabyte, fdisk could not create the partition. This has been fixed. (BZ#471372)
* in rare cases "mount -a" ignored fstab order and tried to re-mount file systems on mpath devices. With this update, mount honors fstab order even in the rare cases reported. (BZ#472186)
* the "mount --move" command moved a file system's mount point as expected (for example, /proc/mounts showed the changed mount point as expected) but did not update /etc/mtab properly. With this update, the "mount --move" command gathers all necessary information about the old mount point, copies it to the new mount point and then deletes the old point, ensuring /etc/mtab is updated properly. (BZ#485004)
Util-linux users are advised to upgrade to this updated package, which addresses this vulnerability and resolves these issues.

References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-1926 https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification#low

Package List

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 4:
Source:
i386: util-linux-2.12a-24.el4.i386.rpm util-linux-debuginfo-2.12a-24.el4.i386.rpm
ia64: util-linux-2.12a-24.el4.ia64.rpm util-linux-debuginfo-2.12a-24.el4.ia64.rpm
ppc: util-linux-2.12a-24.el4.ppc.rpm util-linux-debuginfo-2.12a-24.el4.ppc.rpm
s390: util-linux-2.12a-24.el4.s390.rpm util-linux-debuginfo-2.12a-24.el4.s390.rpm
s390x: util-linux-2.12a-24.el4.s390x.rpm util-linux-debuginfo-2.12a-24.el4.s390x.rpm
x86_64: util-linux-2.12a-24.el4.x86_64.rpm util-linux-debuginfo-2.12a-24.el4.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop version 4:
Source:
i386: util-linux-2.12a-24.el4.i386.rpm util-linux-debuginfo-2.12a-24.el4.i386.rpm
x86_64: util-linux-2.12a-24.el4.x86_64.rpm util-linux-debuginfo-2.12a-24.el4.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 4:
Source:
i386: util-linux-2.12a-24.el4.i386.rpm util-linux-debuginfo-2.12a-24.el4.i386.rpm
ia64: util-linux-2.12a-24.el4.ia64.rpm util-linux-debuginfo-2.12a-24.el4.ia64.rpm
x86_64: util-linux-2.12a-24.el4.x86_64.rpm util-linux-debuginfo-2.12a-24.el4.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 4:
Source:
i386: util-linux-2.12a-24.el4.i386.rpm util-linux-debuginfo-2.12a-24.el4.i386.rpm
ia64: util-linux-2.12a-24.el4.ia64.rpm util-linux-debuginfo-2.12a-24.el4.ia64.rpm
x86_64:

Read the Full Advisory


Severity
low
Lowest
Low
Medium
High
Critical

Advisory ID: RHSA-2009:0981-01
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Issue date: 2009-05-18
Keywords: mount nfs fdisk login audit

Topic

An updated util-linux package that fixes one security issue and severalbugs is now available.This update has been rated as having low security impact by the RedHat Security Response Team.

Relevant Releases Architectures

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 4 - i386, ia64, ppc, s390, s390x, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop version 4 - i386, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 4 - i386, ia64, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 4 - i386, ia64, x86_64

Bugs Fixed

443925 - CVE-2008-1926 util-linux: audit log injection via login

447264 - RHEL4: VMware fdisk partitions

456213 - RHEL4: login segfaults on EOF

456379 - RHEL4: audit log injection attack via login

458539 - man nfs : wrong information about nfs version used

461488 - Backgrounded NFS mounts dies soon after "service netfs start" command is issued

471372 - RHEL4: fdisk cannot create partition with starting beyond 1 TB

472186 - mount -a has problems with duplicate labels in a mpath setup

485004 - Move mount doesn't correctly update mtab

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