Issued:
2011-05-05
Updated:
2011-05-05

RHSA-2011:0492 - Moderate: python security update

Synopsis

Moderate: python security update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory Moderate

Topic

Updated python packages that fix multiple security issues are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having moderate 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

Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming language.

A flaw was found in the Python urllib and urllib2 libraries where they would not differentiate between different target URLs when handling automatic redirects. This caused Python applications using these modules to follow any new URL that they understood, including the "file://" URL type. This could allow a remote server to force a local Python application to read a local file instead of the remote one, possibly exposing local files that were not meant to be exposed. (CVE-2011-1521)

A race condition was found in the way the Python smtpd module handled new connections. A remote user could use this flaw to cause a Python script using the smtpd module to terminate. (CVE-2010-3493)

An information disclosure flaw was found in the way the Python CGIHTTPServer module processed certain HTTP GET requests. A remote attacker could use a specially-crafted request to obtain the CGI script's source code. (CVE-2011-1015)

A buffer over-read flaw was found in the way the Python Expat parser handled malformed UTF-8 sequences when processing XML files. A specially-crafted XML file could cause Python applications using the Python Expat parser to crash while parsing the file. (CVE-2009-3720)

This update makes Python use the system Expat library rather than its own internal copy; therefore, users must have the version of Expat shipped with RHSA-2009:1625 installed, or a later version, to resolve the CVE-2009-3720 issue.

All Python users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to correct these issues.

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.https://access.redhat.com/kb/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

ProductVersionArch
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support5.6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support5.6ia64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support5.6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian5ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support5.6ppc
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems5s390x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support5.6s390x
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 Server - Extended Update Support from RHUI5.6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Update Support from RHUI5.6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS5.6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS5.6ia64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS5.6i386
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop5x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop5i386

Updated Packages

  • python-tools-2.4.3-44.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • tkinter-2.4.3-44.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • python-2.4.3-44.el5.s390x.rpm
  • tkinter-2.4.3-44.el5.ia64.rpm
  • python-libs-2.4.3-44.el5.ia64.rpm
  • python-2.4.3-44.el5.ppc.rpm
  • tkinter-2.4.3-44.el5.i386.rpm
  • python-libs-2.4.3-44.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • python-tools-2.4.3-44.el5.s390x.rpm
  • python-devel-2.4.3-44.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • python-2.4.3-44.el5.src.rpm
  • python-2.4.3-44.el5.ia64.rpm
  • python-devel-2.4.3-44.el5.ia64.rpm
  • python-tools-2.4.3-44.el5.i386.rpm
  • python-devel-2.4.3-44.el5.s390.rpm
  • tkinter-2.4.3-44.el5.s390x.rpm
  • python-libs-2.4.3-44.el5.s390x.rpm
  • python-2.4.3-44.el5.i386.rpm
  • python-2.4.3-44.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • python-devel-2.4.3-44.el5.s390x.rpm
  • python-tools-2.4.3-44.el5.ia64.rpm
  • python-tools-2.4.3-44.el5.ppc.rpm
  • python-devel-2.4.3-44.el5.ppc.rpm
  • python-libs-2.4.3-44.el5.ppc.rpm
  • python-devel-2.4.3-44.el5.i386.rpm
  • python-libs-2.4.3-44.el5.ppc64.rpm
  • tkinter-2.4.3-44.el5.ppc.rpm
  • python-libs-2.4.3-44.el5.i386.rpm
  • python-devel-2.4.3-44.el5.x86_64.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information