Issued:
2009-12-08
Updated:
2009-12-08

RHSA-2009:1648 - Moderate: ntp security update

Synopsis

Moderate: ntp security update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory Moderate

Topic

An updated ntp package that fixes a security issue is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and 5.

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

Description

The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is used to synchronize a computer's time with a referenced time source.

Robin Park and Dmitri Vinokurov discovered a flaw in the way ntpd handled certain malformed NTP packets. ntpd logged information about all such packets and replied with an NTP packet that was treated as malformed when received by another ntpd. A remote attacker could use this flaw to create an NTP packet reply loop between two ntpd servers via a malformed packet with a spoofed source IP address and port, causing ntpd on those servers to use excessive amounts of CPU time and fill disk space with log messages. (CVE-2009-3563)

All ntp users are advised to upgrade to this updated package, which contains a backported patch to resolve this issue. After installing the update, the ntpd daemon will restart automatically.

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 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 endian5ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian4ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support5.4ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support4.8ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems5s390x
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 Support5.4s390x
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 Workstation5x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation5i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation4x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation4ia64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation4i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server5x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server5ia64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server5i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server4x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server4ia64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server4i386
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
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop4x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop4i386

Updated Packages

  • ntp-4.2.0.a.20040617-8.el4_8.1.s390x.rpm
  • ntp-4.2.0.a.20040617-8.el4_8.1.src.rpm
  • ntp-4.2.2p1-9.el5_4.1.ia64.rpm
  • ntp-4.2.0.a.20040617-8.el4_8.1.s390.rpm
  • ntp-4.2.0.a.20040617-8.el4_8.1.ia64.rpm
  • ntp-4.2.0.a.20040617-8.el4_8.1.i386.rpm
  • ntp-4.2.2p1-9.el5_4.1.x86_64.rpm
  • ntp-4.2.2p1-9.el5_4.1.ppc.rpm
  • ntp-4.2.0.a.20040617-8.el4_8.1.x86_64.rpm
  • ntp-4.2.2p1-9.el5_4.1.s390x.rpm
  • ntp-4.2.0.a.20040617-8.el4_8.1.ppc.rpm
  • ntp-4.2.2p1-9.el5_4.1.src.rpm
  • ntp-4.2.2p1-9.el5_4.1.i386.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information