Issued:
2011-01-13
Updated:
2011-01-13

RHSA-2011:0017 - Important: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 kernel security and bug fix update

Synopsis

Important: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 kernel security and bug fix update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory Important

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix multiple security issues, address several hundred bugs, and add numerous enhancements are now available as part of the ongoing support and maintenance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 5. This is the sixth regular update.

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.

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 the igb driver in the Linux kernel. If both the Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) feature and promiscuous mode were enabled on an interface using igb, it could result in a denial of service when a tagged VLAN packet is received on that interface. (CVE-2010-4263, Important)

  • A missing sanity check was found in vbd_create() in the Xen hypervisor implementation. As CD-ROM drives are not supported by the blkback back-end driver, attempting to use a virtual CD-ROM drive with blkback could trigger a denial of service (crash) on the host system running the Xen hypervisor. (CVE-2010-4238, Moderate)

  • A flaw was found in the Linux kernel execve() system call implementation. A local, unprivileged user could cause large amounts of memory to be allocated but not visible to the OOM (Out of Memory) killer, triggering a denial of service. (CVE-2010-4243, Moderate)

  • A flaw was found in fixup_page_fault() in the Xen hypervisor implementation. If a 64-bit para-virtualized guest accessed a certain area of memory, it could cause a denial of service on the host system running the Xen hypervisor. (CVE-2010-4255, Moderate)

  • A missing initialization flaw was found in the bfa driver used by Brocade Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to cause a denial of service by reading a file in the "/sys/class/fc_host/host#/statistics/" directory. (CVE-2010-4343, Moderate)

  • Missing initialization flaws in the Linux kernel could lead to information leaks. (CVE-2010-3296, CVE-2010-3877, CVE-2010-4072, CVE-2010-4073, CVE-2010-4075, CVE-2010-4080, CVE-2010-4081, CVE-2010-4158, Low)

Red Hat would like to thank Kosuke Tatsukawa for reporting CVE-2010-4263; Vladymyr Denysov for reporting CVE-2010-4238; Brad Spengler for reporting CVE-2010-4243; Dan Rosenberg for reporting CVE-2010-3296, CVE-2010-4073, CVE-2010-4075, CVE-2010-4080, CVE-2010-4081, and CVE-2010-4158; Vasiliy Kulikov for reporting CVE-2010-3877; and Kees Cook for reporting CVE-2010-4072.

These updated packages also include several hundred bug fixes for and enhancements to the Linux kernel. Space precludes documenting each of these changes in this advisory and users are directed to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 Release Notes for information on the most significant of these changes:

This content is not included.http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5/html/5.6_Release_Notes/index.html

Refer to the kernel chapter in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 Technical Notes for further information:

This content is not included.http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5/html/5.6_Technical_Notes/kernel.html

All Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 users are advised to install these updated packages, which address these vulnerabilities as well as fixing the bugs and adding the enhancements noted in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 Release Notes and Technical Notes. 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 Power, big endian5ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems5s390x
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-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-238.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-2.6.18-238.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.el5.ppc.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-PAE-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.el5.i386.rpm
  • kernel-PAE-2.6.18-238.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-238.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-doc-2.6.18-238.el5.noarch.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-238.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-2.6.18-238.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.el5.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-238.el5.src.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-238.el5.x86_64.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information