Issued:

2012-11-06

Updated:

2012-11-06

RHSA-2012:1430 - 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 one security issue and three bugs are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 Extended Update Support.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having important security impact. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available from the CVE link 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 issue:

• 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)

Red Hat would like to thank Ben Hutchings of Solarflare (tm) for reporting this issue.

This update also fixes the following bugs:

• In the hpet_next_event() function, an interrupt could have occurred between the read and write of the HPET (High Precision Event Timer) and the value of HPET_COUNTER was then beyond that being written to the comparator (HPET_Tn_CMP). Consequently, the timers were overdue for up to several minutes. Now, a comparison is performed between the value of the counter and the comparator in the HPET code. If the counter is beyond the comparator, the "-ETIME" error code is returned, which fixes this bug. (BZ#855280)

• Traffic to the NFS server could trigger a kernel oops in the svc_tcp_clear_pages() function. The source code has been modified, and the kernel oops no longer occurs in this scenario. (BZ#856104)

• A kernel oops occurred in the nf_nat code when a bogus pointer was dereferenced in the nf_conn_nat structure. Consequently, if Source Network Address Translation (SNAT) was performed, incorrect information could be received by other CTS (Clear to Send) signals. A conntrack entry is now placed in the source hash after SNAT has been completed, which prevents the described problems. (BZ#865714)

Users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported patches to resolve 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-debuginfo-common-ppc64-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
• perf-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.s390x.rpm
• perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
• perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.s390x.rpm
• kernel-debug-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.s390x.rpm
• kernel-devel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-kdump-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.s390x.rpm
• kernel-debug-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-doc-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.noarch.rpm
• kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.i686.rpm
• kernel-headers-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.i686.rpm
• kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-devel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-debuginfo-common-s390x-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.s390x.rpm
• kernel-headers-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.s390x.rpm
• kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
• perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-debug-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.i686.rpm
• kernel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.i686.rpm
• kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.s390x.rpm
• kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-headers-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.i686.rpm
• perf-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.i686.rpm
• kernel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.s390x.rpm
• kernel-devel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.s390x.rpm
• perf-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-bootwrapper-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-devel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.i686.rpm
• perf-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.i686.rpm
• perf-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-headers-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.x86_64.rpm
• kernel-firmware-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.noarch.rpm
• kernel-debuginfo-common-i686-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.i686.rpm
• kernel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.s390x.rpm
• kernel-kdump-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.s390x.rpm
• kernel-kdump-devel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.s390x.rpm
• kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.i686.rpm
• kernel-debug-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.ppc64.rpm
• kernel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.src.rpm
• kernel-debug-devel-2.6.32-131.35.1.el6.s390x.rpm

Fixes

• This content is not included.BZ - 844714

CVEs

• CVE-2012-3412

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.