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

RHSA-2011:0542 - Important: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 kernel security, bug fix and enhancement update

Synopsis

Important: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 kernel security, bug fix and enhancement 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 6. This is the first 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:

  • Multiple buffer overflow flaws were found in the Linux kernel's Management Module Support for Message Passing Technology (MPT) based controllers. A local, unprivileged user could use these flaws to cause a denial of service, an information leak, or escalate their privileges. (CVE-2011-1494, CVE-2011-1495, Important)

  • A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Ethernet bonding driver implementation. Packets coming in from network devices that have more than 16 receive queues to a bonding interface could cause a denial of service. (CVE-2011-1581, Important)

  • A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's networking subsystem. If the number of packets received exceeded the receiver's buffer limit, they were queued in a backlog, consuming memory, instead of being discarded. A remote attacker could abuse this flaw to cause a denial of service (out-of-memory condition). (CVE-2010-4251, Moderate)

  • A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Transparent Huge Pages (THP) implementation. A local, unprivileged user could abuse this flaw to allow the user stack (when it is using huge pages) to grow and cause a denial of service. (CVE-2011-0999, Moderate)

  • A flaw was found in the transmit methods (xmit) for the loopback and InfiniBand transports in the Linux kernel's Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS) implementation. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2011-1023, Moderate)

  • A flaw in the Linux kernel's Event Poll (epoll) implementation could allow a local, unprivileged user to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2011-1082, Moderate)

  • An inconsistency was found in the interaction between the Linux kernel's method for allocating NFSv4 (Network File System version 4) ACL data and the method by which it was freed. This inconsistency led to a kernel panic which could be triggered by a local, unprivileged user with files owned by said user on an NFSv4 share. (CVE-2011-1090, Moderate)

  • A missing validation check was found in the Linux kernel's mac_partition() implementation, used for supporting file systems created on Mac OS operating systems. A local attacker could use this flaw to cause a denial of service by mounting a disk that contains specially-crafted partitions. (CVE-2011-1010, Low)

  • A buffer overflow flaw in the DEC Alpha OSF partition implementation in the Linux kernel could allow a local attacker to cause an information leak by mounting a disk that contains specially-crafted partition tables. (CVE-2011-1163, Low)

  • Missing validations of null-terminated string data structure elements in the do_replace(), compat_do_replace(), do_ipt_get_ctl(), do_ip6t_get_ctl(), and do_arpt_get_ctl() functions could allow a local user who has the CAP_NET_ADMIN capability to cause an information leak. (CVE-2011-1170, CVE-2011-1171, CVE-2011-1172, Low)

Red Hat would like to thank Dan Rosenberg for reporting CVE-2011-1494 and CVE-2011-1495; Nelson Elhage for reporting CVE-2011-1082; Timo Warns for reporting CVE-2011-1010 and CVE-2011-1163; and Vasiliy Kulikov for reporting CVE-2011-1170, CVE-2011-1171, and CVE-2011-1172.

This update also fixes several hundred bugs and adds enhancements. Refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 Release Notes for information on the most significant of these changes, and the Technical Notes for further information, both linked to in the References.

All Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 users are advised to install these updated packages, which correct these issues, and fix the bugs and add the enhancements noted in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 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.https://access.redhat.com/kb/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-headers-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.i686.rpm
  • perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.i686.rpm
  • perf-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-doc-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.noarch.rpm
  • perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-bootwrapper-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.src.rpm
  • perf-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.s390x.rpm
  • perf-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.s390x.rpm
  • perf-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-i686-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.s390x.rpm
  • perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-kdump-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.ppc64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-firmware-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.noarch.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.s390x.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.i686.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.32-131.0.15.el6.i686.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information