Issued:
2008-03-14
Updated:
2008-03-14

RHSA-2008:0167 - Moderate: kernel security and bug fix update

Synopsis

Moderate: kernel security and bug fix update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory Moderate

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix various security issues and several bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.

This update has been rated as having moderate security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.

Description

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

A buffer overflow flaw was found in the CIFS virtual file system. A remote authenticated user could issue a request that could lead to a denial of service. (CVE-2007-5904, Moderate)

As well, these updated packages fix the following bugs:

  • a bug was found in the Linux kernel audit subsystem. When the audit daemon was setup to log the execve system call with a large number of arguments, the kernel could run out out memory while attempting to create audit log messages. This could cause a kernel panic. In these updated packages, large audit messages are split into acceptable sizes, which resolves this issue.

  • on certain Intel chipsets, it was not possible to load the acpiphp module using the "modprobe acpiphp" command. Because the acpiphp module did not recurse across PCI bridges, hardware detection for PCI hot plug slots failed. In these updated packages, hardware detection works correctly.

  • on IBM System z architectures that run the IBM z/VM hypervisor, the IBM eServer zSeries HiperSockets network interface (layer 3) allowed ARP packets to be sent and received, even when the "NOARP" flag was set. These ARP packets caused problems for virtual machines.

  • it was possible for the iounmap function to sleep while holding a lock. This may have caused a deadlock for drivers and other code that uses the iounmap function. In these updated packages, the lock is dropped before the sleep code is called, which resolves this issue.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 users are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to resolve these issues.

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.http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/FAQ_58_10188

Affected Products

ProductVersionArch
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support4.6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support4.6ia64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support4.6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian4ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support4.6ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems4s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems4s390
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support4.6s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support4.6s390
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation4x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation4ia64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation4i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server4x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server4ia64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server4i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop4x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop4i386

Updated Packages

  • kernel-hugemem-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.s390.rpm
  • kernel-smp-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-largesmp-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-largesmp-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-smp-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-xenU-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-hugemem-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-largesmp-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-largesmp-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-xenU-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-largesmp-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.src.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-smp-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.ppc64iseries.rpm
  • kernel-xenU-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-doc-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.noarch.rpm
  • kernel-smp-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-largesmp-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-xenU-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.s390.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-67.0.7.EL.ppc64iseries.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information