Issued:
2011-05-19
Updated:
2011-05-19

RHSA-2011:0534 - Important: qemu-kvm security, bug fix, and enhancement update

Synopsis

Important: qemu-kvm security, bug fix, and enhancement update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory Important

Topic

Updated qemu-kvm packages that fix two security issues, several bugs, and add various enhancements 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.

Description

KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualization solution for Linux on AMD64 and Intel 64 systems. qemu-kvm is the user-space component for running virtual machines using KVM.

It was found that the virtio-blk driver in qemu-kvm did not properly validate read and write requests from guests. A privileged guest user could use this flaw to crash the guest or, possibly, execute arbitrary code on the host. (CVE-2011-1750)

It was found that the PIIX4 Power Management emulation layer in qemu-kvm did not properly check for hot plug eligibility during device removals. A privileged guest user could use this flaw to crash the guest or, possibly, execute arbitrary code on the host. (CVE-2011-1751)

Red Hat would like to thank Nelson Elhage for reporting CVE-2011-1751.

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

All users of qemu-kvm should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to resolve these issues, and fix the bugs and add the enhancements noted in the Technical Notes. After installing this update, shut down all running virtual machines. Once all virtual machines have shut down, start them again 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.https://access.redhat.com/kb/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

ProductVersionArch
Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Scientific Computing6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop6x86_64

Updated Packages

  • qemu-kvm-0.12.1.2-2.160.el6.src.rpm
  • qemu-img-0.12.1.2-2.160.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • qemu-kvm-debuginfo-0.12.1.2-2.160.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • qemu-kvm-0.12.1.2-2.160.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • qemu-kvm-tools-0.12.1.2-2.160.el6.x86_64.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information