Issued:
2010-11-10
Updated:
2010-11-22

RHSA-2010:0842 - 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 6.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having important security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores, which give detailed severity ratings, are available for each vulnerability from the CVE links in the References section.

[Updated 22 November 2010] The packages list in this erratum has been updated to include four missing debuginfo-common packages (one per architecture). No changes have been made to the original packages.

Description

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

This update fixes the following security issues:

  • Missing sanity checks in the Intel i915 driver in the Linux kernel could allow a local, unprivileged user to escalate their privileges. (CVE-2010-2962, Important)

  • compat_alloc_user_space() in the Linux kernel 32/64-bit compatibility layer implementation was missing sanity checks. This function could be abused in other areas of the Linux kernel if its length argument can be controlled from user-space. On 64-bit systems, a local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to escalate their privileges. (CVE-2010-3081, Important)

  • A buffer overflow flaw in niu_get_ethtool_tcam_all() in the niu Ethernet driver in the Linux kernel, could allow a local user to cause a denial of service or escalate their privileges. (CVE-2010-3084, Important)

  • A flaw in the IA32 system call emulation provided in 64-bit Linux kernels could allow a local user to escalate their privileges. (CVE-2010-3301, Important)

  • A flaw in sctp_packet_config() in the Linux kernel's Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) implementation could allow a remote attacker to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2010-3432, Important)

  • A missing integer overflow check in snd_ctl_new() in the Linux kernel's sound subsystem could allow a local, unprivileged user on a 32-bit system to cause a denial of service or escalate their privileges. (CVE-2010-3442, Important)

  • A flaw was found in sctp_auth_asoc_get_hmac() in the Linux kernel's SCTP implementation. When iterating through the hmac_ids array, it did not reset the last id element if it was out of range. This could allow a remote attacker to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2010-3705, Important)

  • A function in the Linux kernel's Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS) protocol implementation was missing sanity checks, which could allow a local, unprivileged user to escalate their privileges. (CVE-2010-3904, Important)

  • A flaw in drm_ioctl() in the Linux kernel's Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) implementation could allow a local, unprivileged user to cause an information leak. (CVE-2010-2803, Moderate)

  • It was found that wireless drivers might not always clear allocated buffers when handling a driver-specific IOCTL information request. A local user could trigger this flaw to cause an information leak. (CVE-2010-2955, Moderate)

  • A NULL pointer dereference flaw in ftrace_regex_lseek() in the Linux kernel's ftrace implementation could allow a local, unprivileged user to cause a denial of service. Note: The debugfs file system must be mounted locally to exploit this issue. It is not mounted by default. (CVE-2010-3079, Moderate)

  • A flaw in the Linux kernel's packet writing driver could be triggered via the PKT_CTRL_CMD_STATUS IOCTL request, possibly allowing a local, unprivileged user with access to "/dev/pktcdvd/control" to cause an information leak. Note: By default, only users in the cdrom group have access to "/dev/pktcdvd/control". (CVE-2010-3437, Moderate)

  • A flaw was found in the way KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) handled the reloading of fs and gs segment registers when they had invalid selectors. A privileged host user with access to "/dev/kvm" could use this flaw to crash the host. (CVE-2010-3698, Moderate)

Red Hat would like to thank Kees Cook for reporting CVE-2010-2962 and CVE-2010-2803; Ben Hawkes for reporting CVE-2010-3081 and CVE-2010-3301; Dan Rosenberg for reporting CVE-2010-3442, CVE-2010-3705, CVE-2010-3904, and CVE-2010-3437; and Robert Swiecki for reporting CVE-2010-3079.

This update also fixes several bugs. Documentation for these bug fixes will be available shortly from the Technical Notes document linked to in the References section.

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 all previously-released errata relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via the 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

To install kernel packages manually, use "rpm -ivh [package]". Do not use "rpm -Uvh" as that will remove the running kernel binaries from your system. You may use "rpm -e" to remove old kernels after determining that the new kernel functions properly on your system.

Affected Products

ProductVersionArch
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Scientific Computing6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian6ppc64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems6s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension (for IBM z Systems)6s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support (for IBM z Systems)6s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop6i386

Updated Packages

  • kernel-devel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • perf-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.noarch.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-doc-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.noarch.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.src.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-i686-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-bootwrapper-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-firmware-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.noarch.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-71.7.1.el6.x86_64.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information