Issued:
2009-11-03
Updated:
2009-11-03

RHSA-2009:1541 - Important: kernel security update

Synopsis

Important: kernel security update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory Important

Topic

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

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.

This update fixes the following security issues:

  • a NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in each of the following functions in the Linux kernel: pipe_read_open(), pipe_write_open(), and pipe_rdwr_open(). When the mutex lock is not held, the i_pipe pointer could be released by other processes before it is used to update the pipe's reader and writer counters. This could lead to a local denial of service or privilege escalation. (CVE-2009-3547, Important)

Users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain a backported patch 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.http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

ProductVersionArch
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support4.8x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support4.8ia64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support4.8i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian4ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support4.8ppc
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 Support4.8s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support4.8s390
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-smp-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-doc-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.noarch.rpm
  • kernel-largesmp-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-largesmp-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.s390.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-xenU-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-xenU-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-hugemem-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-smp-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-smp-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-largesmp-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-xenU-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-largesmp-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-largesmp-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.ppc64iseries.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-xenU-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-largesmp-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.src.rpm
  • kernel-hugemem-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.i686.rpm
  • kernel-smp-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.ppc64iseries.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.s390.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.9-89.0.16.EL.ppc64.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information