Issued:
2014-06-26
Updated:
2014-06-26

RHSA-2014:0801 - Important: kernel security update

Synopsis

Important: kernel security update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory Important

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix two security issues are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.6 Long Life.

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.

  • A flaw was found in the way the Linux kernel's floppy driver handled user space provided data in certain error code paths while processing FDRAWCMD IOCTL commands. A local user with write access to /dev/fdX could use this flaw to free (using the kfree() function) arbitrary kernel memory. (CVE-2014-1737, Important)

  • It was found that the Linux kernel's floppy driver leaked internal kernel memory addresses to user space during the processing of the FDRAWCMD IOCTL command. A local user with write access to /dev/fdX could use this flaw to obtain information about the kernel heap arrangement. (CVE-2014-1738, Low)

Note: A local user with write access to /dev/fdX could use these two flaws (CVE-2014-1737 in combination with CVE-2014-1738) to escalate their privileges on the system.

Red Hat would like to thank Matthew Daley for reporting these issues.

All kernel users are advised to 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

ProductVersionArch
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS5.6x86_64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS5.6ia64
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - AUS5.6i386

Updated Packages

  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-devel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-PAE-devel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-PAE-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-xen-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i386.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.src.rpm
  • kernel-xen-devel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-xen-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-debug-debuginfo-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-doc-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.noarch.rpm
  • kernel-xen-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debug-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-devel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-PAE-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.i686.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.ia64.rpm
  • kernel-debuginfo-common-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.x86_64.rpm
  • kernel-headers-2.6.18-238.53.1.el5.ia64.rpm

Fixes

CVEs

References

Additional information