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Red Hat: RHSA-2011:0017-01 Important: Kernel Denial of Service

red hat
Calendar Grey January 13, 2011
Scroller Redhat
Crucial kernel patch for CentOS 5.6 rectifies several vulnerabilities and software errors.
Updated kernel packages that fix multiple security issues, address several hundred bugs, and add numerous enhancements are now available as part of the ongoing support and maintena...

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

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 issues:
* A NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in the igb driver in the Linux kernel. If both the Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) feature and promiscuous mode were enabled on an interface using igb, it could result in a denial of service when a tagged VLAN packet is received on that interface. (CVE-2010-4263, Important)
* A missing sanity check was found in vbd_create() in the Xen hypervisor implementation. As CD-ROM drives are not supported by the blkback back-end driver, attempting to use a virtual CD-ROM drive with blkback could trigger a denial of service (crash) on the host system running the Xen hypervisor. (CVE-2010-4238, Moderate)
* A flaw was found in the Linux kernel execve() system call implementation. A local, unprivileged user could cause large amounts of memory to be allocated but not visible to the OOM (Out of Memory) killer, triggering a denial of service. (CVE-2010-4243, Moderate)
* A flaw was found in fixup_page_fault() in the Xen hypervisor implementation. If a 64-bit para-virtualized guest accessed a certain area of memory, it could cause a denial of service on the host system running the Xen hypervisor. (CVE-2010-4255, Moderate)
* A missing initialization flaw was found in the bfa driver used by Brocade Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to cause a denial of service by reading a file in the "/sys/class/fc_host/host#/statistics/" directory. (CVE-2010-4343, Moderate)
* Missing initialization flaws in the Linux kernel could lead to information leaks. (CVE-2010-3296, CVE-2010-3877, CVE-2010-4072, CVE-2010-4073, CVE-2010-4075, CVE-2010-4080, CVE-2010-4081, CVE-2010-4158, Low)
Red Hat would like to thank Kosuke Tatsukawa for reporting CVE-2010-4263; Vladymyr Denysov for reporting CVE-2010-4238; Brad Spengler for reporting CVE-2010-4243; Dan Rosenberg for reporting CVE-2010-3296, CVE-2010-4073, CVE-2010-4075, CVE-2010-4080, CVE-2010-4081, and CVE-2010-4158; Vasiliy Kulikov for reporting CVE-2010-3877; and Kees Cook for reporting CVE-2010-4072.
These updated packages also include several hundred bug fixes for and enhancements to the Linux kernel. Space precludes documenting each of these changes in this advisory and users are directed to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 Release Notes for information on the most significant of these changes:
https://access.redhat.com/search/
Refer to the kernel chapter in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 Technical Notes for further information:
https://access.redhat.com/search/
All Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 users are advised to install these updated packages, which address these vulnerabilities as well as fixing the bugs and adding the enhancements noted in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 Release Notes and Technical Notes. The system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.

References

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-3296 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-3877 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-4072 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-4073 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-4075 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-4080 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-4081 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-4158 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-4238 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-4243 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-4255 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-4263 https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2010-4343 https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important https://access.redhat.com/search/ https://access.redhat.com/search/

Package List

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 5 client):
Source:
i386: kernel-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm kernel-PAE-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm kernel-PAE-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm kernel-PAE-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.el5.i386.rpm kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm kernel-xen-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm
noarch: kernel-doc-2.6.18-238.el5.noarch.rpm
x86_64: kernel-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm kernel-xen-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (v. 5 server):
Source:
i386: kernel-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm kernel-PAE-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm

Read the Full Advisory


Severity
important
Lowest
Low
Medium
High
Critical

Advisory ID: RHSA-2011:0017-01
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Issue date: 2011-01-13

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix multiple security issues, address severalhundred bugs, and add numerous enhancements are now available as part ofthe ongoing support and maintenance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 5.This is the sixth regular update.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 (v. 5 server) - i386, ia64, noarch, ppc, s390x, x86_64

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 5 client) - i386, noarch, x86_64

Bugs Fixed

237372 - Marvell PATA not supported

429102 - Allocations on resume path can cause deadlock due to attempting to swap

441243 - kernel keyring quotas exceeded

455323 - No support for upstream /proc/sys/kernel/nmi_watchdog.

456765 - kabitool blocks custom kernel builds when kernel version > 2.6.18-53.1.21.el5

459901 - race condition between AIO and setresuid()

466088 - dm-snapshot: very slow write to snapshot origin when copy-on-write occurs466157 - kernel doesn't supply memory fields in getrusage, /usr/bin/time anything shows "... (0avgtext+0avgdata 0maxresident)k ..."

470801 - Read from /proc/xen/xenbus does not honor O_NONBLOCK

479418 - second cifs mount to samba server fails when samba using security=ADS

485903 - [RHEL5] Netfilter modules unloading hangs

488882 - cxgb3 driver very slow under Xen with HW acceleration enabled

493047 - Oprofile - Add Dunnington processors to the list of ppro cores

494400 - TCP: Treason uncloaked! during Network Stress Testing

496127 - [RHEL5.5] e1000e devices fail to initialize interrupts properly

499553 - Cannot generate proper stacktrace on xen-ia64

503864 - The USB storage cannot use >2TB.

504188 - GFS1 vs GFS2 performance issue

506694 - kdump hangs up if INIT is received while kdump is starting

507846 - Balloon driver gives up too easily when ballooning up under memory pressure

513934 - Keyboard LEDs constantly lit

516289 - bonding: backport code to allow user-controlled output slave detection.

Read the Full Advisory

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