Issued:

2012-02-20

Updated:

2012-02-20

RHBA-2012:0189 - microcode_ctl bug fix and enhancement update

Synopsis

microcode_ctl bug fix and enhancement update

Type/Severity

Bug Fix Advisory (none)

Topic

An updated microcode_ctl package that fixes two bugs and adds one enhancement is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

Description

The microcode_ctl package provides microcode updates for Intel and AMD processors.

This update fixes the following bugs:

• A previous update introduced a memory leak when loading the updated microcode into memory before conversion of the microcode into a format suitable for the CPU. This update includes a corrected patch that de-allocates the memory correctly, ensuring memory does not leak. (BZ#690414)

• Previously, the command line definitions from the spec file specified an incorrect path (/etc/firmware/microcode.dat) to the microcode firmware. As a consequence, updating microcode_ctl failed with the following error message:

  microcode_ctl: cannot open source file '/lib/firmware/microcode.dat'

This update modifies the firmware path to the correct /lib/firmware/microcode.dat, and microcode_ctl now updates correctly. (BZ#760323)

In addition, this update adds the following enhancement:

• The Intel CPU microcode file has been updated to version 20111110. This is the most recent version of the microcode available from Intel. (BZ#713653)

Note that the system must be rebooted in order for these changes to take effect.

All users of microcode_ctl are advised to upgrade to this updated package, which fixes these bugs and adds this enhancement.

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

Updated Packages

• microcode_ctl-1.17-1.56.el5.src.rpm
• microcode_ctl-1.17-1.56.el5.x86_64.rpm
• microcode_ctl-1.17-1.56.el5.i386.rpm

Fixes

• This content is not included.BZ - 690414

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)

Additional information

• The Red Hat security contact is This content is not included.secalert@redhat.com. More contact details at https://access.redhat.com/security/team/contact/.
• Offline Security Data data is available for integration with other systems. See Offline Security Data API to get started.