RHBA-2009:0974 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

An updated rhnlib package that fixes various bugs is now available.

Description

rhnlib is a collection of Python modules used by the Red Hat Network (RHN)
software.

This updated package addresses the following bugs:

• if an attempt to open a file in /tmp failed, the SmartIO.py module would

enter a loop and make multiple attempts to open the same file. If these
all failed, the module would exit with an error. The module provided in
this updated package instead uses mkstemp to create a file with a unique
filename. This has a greater chance of success and uses system resources
more efficiently. (BZ#434781)

• rhnlib has been enhanced and should now be able to handle any redirect

requests sent down by Red Hat Network servers. (BZ#479047)

• when redirected to the content provider for packages, up2date would not

correctly register changes in protocol, which would result in a TypeError.
Additionally, when attempting to download multiple packages, only the
first redirect URL would be stored, so not all packages pulled down would
be correct. Changes in protocol and URLs are now tracked and redirecting
should work as expected. (BZ#488744, BZ#489328)

• _internal_xmlrpclib.py was necessary for Python Version 2.2 or lower.

The default version of Python for this platform is 2.3 or above, so
_internal_smlrpclib.py has been removed as it is no longer necessary.
(BZ#492405)

• when a package could not be found on the content delivery network,

up2date would make an incorrect request to the original host, and use this
URL for subsequent attempts to locate the package. Up2date now requests a
fresh redirect when a package cannot be located on the network. (BZ#492423)

• some changes to rhnlib for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.8 cause a

regression in RHN Proxy 5.2 such that updating the client system results
in an internal server error. Rhnlib has been altered so that its transport
file will now default to that of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.7 or lower,
preventing RHN Proxy issues. (BZ#498678)

All RHN users are advised to upgrade to this updated package.

Solution

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

This update is available via Red Hat Network. Details on how to use
the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 4 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 4 s390
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 4 ppc

Fixes

• BZ - 434781 - The module should use mktemp() or tempfile module to generate temporary file
• BZ - 479047 - enhance and test redirect support for rhnlib
• BZ - 488744 - Redirecting from http to https urls still uses the http protocol
• BZ - 489328 - up2date fails with traceback
• BZ - 492405 - rhnlib either needs to Require python-sgmlop or _internal_xmlrpclib.py needs to be removed.
• BZ - 492423 - After following a redirect and getting a 404, rhnlib makes a bad http request to the original host
• BZ - 498678 - Changes to rhnlib for RHEL 4.8 breaks RHN Proxy 5.2 (and perhaps earlier).

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)