Issued:
2010-03-01
Updated:
2010-03-01

RHSA-2010:0125 - Moderate: systemtap security update

Synopsis

Moderate: systemtap security update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory Moderate

Topic

Updated systemtap packages that fix a security issue 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

SystemTap is an instrumentation system for systems running the Linux kernel, version 2.6. Developers can write scripts to collect data on the operation of the system.

A buffer overflow flaw was found in SystemTap's tapset __get_argv() function. If a privileged user ran a SystemTap script that called this function, a local, unprivileged user could, while that script is still running, trigger this flaw and cause memory corruption by running a command with a large argument list, which may lead to a system crash or, potentially, arbitrary code execution with root privileges. (CVE-2010-0411)

Note: SystemTap scripts that call __get_argv(), being a privileged function, can only be executed by the root user or users in the stapdev group. As well, if such a script was compiled and installed by root, users in the stapusr group would also be able to execute it.

SystemTap users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain a backported patch to correct this issue.

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 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

  • systemtap-testsuite-0.6.2-2.el4_8.1.ppc64.rpm
  • systemtap-testsuite-0.6.2-2.el4_8.1.i386.rpm
  • systemtap-0.6.2-2.el4_8.1.ia64.rpm
  • systemtap-0.6.2-2.el4_8.1.src.rpm
  • systemtap-testsuite-0.6.2-2.el4_8.1.x86_64.rpm
  • systemtap-testsuite-0.6.2-2.el4_8.1.ia64.rpm
  • systemtap-runtime-0.6.2-2.el4_8.1.ppc64.rpm
  • systemtap-0.6.2-2.el4_8.1.i386.rpm
  • systemtap-runtime-0.6.2-2.el4_8.1.ia64.rpm
  • systemtap-0.6.2-2.el4_8.1.ppc64.rpm
  • systemtap-runtime-0.6.2-2.el4_8.1.i386.rpm
  • systemtap-runtime-0.6.2-2.el4_8.1.x86_64.rpm
  • systemtap-0.6.2-2.el4_8.1.x86_64.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information