RHBA-2010:0104 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated net-snmp packages that fix a bug are now available.

Description

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a protocol used for
network management. The net-snmp packages include various SNMP tools:an
extensible agent, an SNMP library, tools for requesting or setting
information from SNMP agents, tools for generating and handling SNMP traps,
a version of the netstat command which uses SNMP, and a Tk/Perl MIB
browser.

These updated net-snmp packages address the following issue:

• when ethernet interfaces were down, snmpd, the SNMP daemon, reported

inconsistent interface speeds (ifSpeed), depending on the link type. If the
down link was twisted pair, ifSpeed was reported as 0. If the down link was
fiber, it was reported as 1000000 (10 MB/sec). This difference was
consequent to two IO controls (ioctls) not returning information from the
kernel when the down interface was fiber.

For this update, information returned by the SNMP daemon has been improved
and made consistent. If an interface is down, but the ioctls are able to
get ifSpeed data from the kernel, this speed is reported. In almost all
instances, this means SNMP will report the actual speed of the interface,
regardless of its active or inactive (down) state. If, however, an
interface is down and the ioctls cannot return ifSpeed data, the interface
speed is then reported as zero. (BZ#562754)

All net-snmp users should upgrade to these updated packages, which resolve
this issue.

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
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 for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 4.8 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 4.8 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 4.8 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 IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support 4.8 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support 4.8 s390
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 4 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support 4.8 ppc

Fixes

• BZ - 562754 - net-snmpd reports wrong speed for disconnected interfaces

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)