Issued:
2011-06-15
Updated:
2011-06-17

RHBA-2011:0874 - kernel bug fix update

Synopsis

kernel bug fix update

Type/Severity

Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix various bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Description

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

This update fixes the following bugs:

  • Xen guests cannot make use of all CPU features, and in some cases they are even risky to be advertised. One such feature is CONSTANT_TSC. This feature prevents the TSC (Time Stamp Counter) from being marked as unstable, which allows the sched_clock_stable option to be enabled. Having the sched_clock_stable option enabled is problematic for Xen PV guests because the sched_clock() function has been overridden with the xen_sched_clock() function, which is not synchronized between virtual CPUs. This update provides a patch, which sets all x86_power features to 0 as a preventive measure against other potentially dangerous assumptions the kernel could make based on the features, fixing this issue. (BZ#710609)

  • Issues for which a host had older hypervisor code running on newer hardware, which exposed the new CPU features to the guests, were discovered. This was dangerous because newer guest kernels (such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6) may have attempted to use those features or assume certain machine behaviors that it would not be able to process because it was, in fact, a Xen guest. One such place was the intel_idle driver which attempts to use the MWAIT and MONITOR instructions. These instructions are invalid operations for a Xen PV guest. This update provides a patch, which masks the MWAIT instruction to avoid this issue. (BZ#712191)

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.

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 This content is not included.https://access.redhat.com/kb/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

ProductVersionArch
Red Hat Virtual Storage Appliance (from RHUI)6.1x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support6.1x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support6.1i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Scientific Computing6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian6ppc64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support6.1ppc64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems6s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support6.1s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Update Support from RHUI6.1x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Update Support from RHUI6.1i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension (for IBM z Systems)6s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support (for IBM z Systems)6s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop6i386

Updated Packages

  • kernel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-bootwrapper-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • perf-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-i686-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-firmware-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.noarch.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • perf-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-doc-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.noarch.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • perf-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • perf-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.src.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.32-131.4.1.el6.x86_64.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)

Additional information