RHBA-2003:215 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated mm packages are now available which resolve a semaphore-related
problem that can prevent the Apache HTTP server from starting.

Description

The MM library provides an abstraction layer allowing related processes to
share data easily.

On systems where shared memory or other inter-process communication
mechanisms are not available, the MM library emulates them using temporary
files. MM is used in Red Hat Enterprise Linux to provide shared memory
pools to Apache modules.

The type of semaphore used by the library was changed to increase
performance in the mm-1.1.3-8 package. Unfortunately, this semaphore type
has been found to fill up the kernel semaphore arrays, which can prevent
the Apache HTTP server from starting in some circumstances.

All users are advised to update to these erratum packages, which use a
different semaphore not vulnerable to this issue.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.

To update all RPMs for your particular architecture, run:

rpm -Fvh [filenames]

where [filenames] is a list of the RPMs you wish to upgrade. Only those
RPMs which are currently installed will be updated. Those RPMs which are
not installed but included in the list will not be updated. Note that you
can also use wildcards (*.rpm) if your current directory *only* contains the
desired RPMs.

Please note that this update is also available via Red Hat Network. Many
people find this an easier way to apply updates. To use Red Hat Network,
launch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command:

up2date

This will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate
RPMs being upgraded on your system.

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 2 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 2 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 2 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 2 i386

Fixes

• BZ - 91787 - mm should not use SysV semaphores
• BZ - 99416 - Bad mm compile options within mm.spec file

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)