Issued:

2012-10-09

Updated:

2012-10-09

RHSA-2012:1347 - 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 two security issues and one bug are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 Extended Update Support.

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 flaw was found in the way socket buffers (skb) requiring TSO (TCP segment offloading) were handled by the sfc driver. If the skb did not fit within the minimum-size of the transmission queue, the network card could repeatedly reset itself. A remote attacker could use this flaw to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2012-3412, Important)

• A buffer overflow flaw was found in the hfs_bnode_read() function in the HFS Plus (HFS+) file system implementation in the Linux kernel. A local user able to mount a specially-crafted HFS+ file system image could use this flaw to cause a denial of service or escalate their privileges. (CVE-2012-2319, Low)

Red Hat would like to thank Ben Hutchings of Solarflare (tm) for reporting CVE-2012-3412.

This update also fixes the following bug:

• Some subsystems clear the TIF_SIGPENDING flag during error handling in fork() paths. Previously, if the flag was cleared, the ERESTARTNOINTR error code could be returned. The underlying source code has been modified so that the error code is no longer returned. (BZ#855754)

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 https://access.redhat.com/knowledge/articles/11258

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

Updated Packages

• kernel-kdump-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i686.rpm
• kernel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i686.rpm
• kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ia64.rpm
• kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.s390x.rpm
• kernel-PAE-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i686.rpm
• kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i686.rpm
• kernel-doc-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.noarch.rpm
• kernel-PAE-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i686.rpm
• kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i686.rpm
• kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i686.rpm
• kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i686.rpm
• kernel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ia64.rpm
• kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.s390x.rpm
• kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.s390x.rpm
• kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i386.rpm
• kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i686.rpm
• kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ia64.rpm
• kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ia64.rpm
• kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ia64.rpm
• kernel-xen-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.s390x.rpm
• kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ia64.rpm
• kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i686.rpm
• kernel-xen-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i686.rpm
• kernel-xen-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ia64.rpm
• kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.s390x.rpm
• kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ia64.rpm
• kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-PAE-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i686.rpm
• kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.s390x.rpm
• kernel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.src.rpm
• kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-kdump-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.s390x.rpm
• kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.i686.rpm
• kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ia64.rpm
• kernel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ppc.rpm
• kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ia64.rpm
• kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.45.1.el5.ia64.rpm

Fixes

• This content is not included.BZ - 819471
• This content is not included.BZ - 844714

CVEs

• CVE-2012-3412
• CVE-2012-2319

References

• https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important

Additional information

• The Red Hat security contact is This content is not included.secalert@redhat.com. More contact details at https://access.redhat.com/security/team/contact/.
• Offline Security Data data is available for integration with other systems. See Offline Security Data API to get started.