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

RHSA-2009:1548 - Important: kernel security and bug fix update

Synopsis

Important: kernel security and bug fix update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory Important

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix multiple security issues and several bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

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.

Security fixes:

  • a system with SELinux enforced was more permissive in allowing local users in the unconfined_t domain to map low memory areas even if the mmap_min_addr restriction was enabled. This could aid in the local exploitation of NULL pointer dereference bugs. (CVE-2009-2695, Important)

  • a NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in the eCryptfs implementation in the Linux kernel. A local attacker could use this flaw to cause a local denial of service or escalate their privileges. (CVE-2009-2908, Important)

  • a flaw was found in the NFSv4 implementation. The kernel would do an unnecessary permission check after creating a file. This check would usually fail and leave the file with the permission bits set to random values. Note: This is a server-side only issue. (CVE-2009-3286, Important)

  • 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)

  • a flaw was found in the Realtek r8169 Ethernet driver in the Linux kernel. pci_unmap_single() presented a memory leak that could lead to IOMMU space exhaustion and a system crash. An attacker on the local network could abuse this flaw by using jumbo frames for large amounts of network traffic. (CVE-2009-3613, Important)

  • missing initialization flaws were found in the Linux kernel. Padding data in several core network structures was not initialized properly before being sent to user-space. These flaws could lead to information leaks. (CVE-2009-3228, Moderate)

Bug fixes:

  • with network bonding in the "balance-tlb" or "balance-alb" mode, the primary setting for the primary slave device was lost when said device was brought down. Bringing the slave back up did not restore the primary setting. (BZ#517971)

  • some faulty serial device hardware caused systems running the kernel-xen kernel to take a very long time to boot. (BZ#524153)

  • a caching bug in nfs_readdir() may have caused NFS clients to see duplicate files or not see all files in a directory. (BZ#526960)

  • the RHSA-2009:1243 update removed the mpt_msi_enable option, preventing certain scripts from running. This update adds the option back. (BZ#526963)

  • an iptables rule with the recent module and a hit count value greater than the ip_pkt_list_tot parameter (the default is 20), did not have any effect over packets, as the hit count could not be reached. (BZ#527434)

  • a check has been added to the IPv4 code to make sure that rt is not NULL, to help prevent future bugs in functions that call ip_append_data() from being exploitable. (BZ#527436)

  • a kernel panic occurred in certain conditions after reconfiguring a tape drive's block size. (BZ#528133)

  • when using the Linux Virtual Server (LVS) in a master and backup configuration, and propagating active connections on the master to the backup, the connection timeout value on the backup was hard-coded to 180 seconds, meaning connection information on the backup was soon lost. This could prevent the successful failover of connections. The timeout value can now be set via "ipvsadm --set". (BZ#528645)

  • a bug in nfs4_do_open_expired() could have caused the reclaimer thread on an NFSv4 client to enter an infinite loop. (BZ#529162)

  • MSI interrupts may not have been delivered for r8169 based network cards that have MSI interrupts enabled. This bug only affected certain systems. (BZ#529366)

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.http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

ProductVersionArch
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support5.4x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support5.4ia64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support5.4i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian5ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support5.4ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems5s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support5.4s390x
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-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.src.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ppc.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.i386.rpm
  • kernel-xen-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-xen-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-PAE-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-PAE-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-doc-2.6.18-164.6.1.el5.noarch.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information