RHBA-2011:0233 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

An updated util-linux package that fixes various bugs is now available for Red
Hat Enterprise Linux 4.

Description

The util-linux package contains a large variety of low-level system utilities
that are necessary for a Linux system to function. Among others, util-linux
contains the sfdisk configuration tool and the login program.

This update fixes the following bugs:

• Prior to this update, the login(1) manual page contained information that the

utility can be used to switch to another user. However, this is not true, and
the utility is not designed for such purposes. With this update, the manual page
has been corrected, and no longer contains misleading information. (BZ#489031)

• Previously, the sfdisk utility did not verify that the changes were

successfully written to the disk, making it especially difficult to use it
reliably in scripts. This has been fixed, I/O errors are now detected, and the
utility returns proper exit status as expected. (BZ#503246)

• Occasionally, the script utility may have failed to make a transcript of a

terminal session if the session existed only for a short time. This error no
longer occurs, and all terminal sessions are now recorded as expected.
(BZ#528548)

Users of util-linux should upgrade to this updated package, which resolves these
issues.

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
https://access.redhat.com/kb/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 - 489031 - login command does not allow for switching users
• BZ - 653380 - The build log has serious warnings that may cause run-time errors/crashes; suggest use of -fno-strict-aliasing

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)