Issued:
2009-09-01
Updated:
2009-09-02

RHSA-2009:1243 - Important: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 kernel security and bug fix update

Synopsis

Important: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 kernel security and bug fix update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory Important

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix security issues, address several hundred bugs and add numerous enhancements are now available as part of the ongoing support and maintenance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 5. This is the fourth regular update.

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

Description

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

These updated packages fix the following security issues:

  • it was discovered that, when executing a new process, the clear_child_tid pointer in the Linux kernel is not cleared. If this pointer points to a writable portion of the memory of the new program, the kernel could corrupt four bytes of memory, possibly leading to a local denial of service or privilege escalation. (CVE-2009-2848, Important)

  • a flaw was found in the way the do_sigaltstack() function in the Linux kernel copies the stack_t structure to user-space. On 64-bit machines, this flaw could lead to a four-byte information leak. (CVE-2009-2847, Moderate)

  • a flaw was found in the ext4 file system code. A local attacker could use this flaw to cause a denial of service by performing a resize operation on a specially-crafted ext4 file system. (CVE-2009-0745, Low)

  • multiple flaws were found in the ext4 file system code. A local attacker could use these flaws to cause a denial of service by mounting a specially-crafted ext4 file system. (CVE-2009-0746, CVE-2009-0747, CVE-2009-0748, Low)

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 5.4 Release Notes for information on the most significant of these changes:

This content is not included.http://www.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5.4/html/Release_Notes/

Also, for details concerning every bug fixed in and every enhancement added to the kernel for this release, see the kernel chapter in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 Technical Notes:

This content is not included.http://www.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5.4/html/Technical_Notes/kernel.html

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 5.4 Release Notes and Technical Notes. 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.http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

ProductVersionArch
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian5ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems5s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation5x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation5i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server5x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server5ia64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server5i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI5x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI5i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop5x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop5i386

Updated Packages

  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-164.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-164.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-2.6.18-164.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-2.6.18-164.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-164.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-PAE-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-164.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-164.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-164.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.el5.ppc.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-2.6.18-164.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-164.el5.src.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-164.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.el5.i386.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-164.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-164.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-164.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-doc-2.6.18-164.el5.noarch.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-164.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-2.6.18-164.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-xen-2.6.18-164.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-PAE-2.6.18-164.el5.i686.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information