RHBA-2011:0815 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated busybox packages that fix multiple bugs are now available for Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 5.

Description

busybox is a single binary that includes versions of a large number of system
commands, including a shell. This can be very useful for recovering from certain
types of system failures, particularly those involving broken shared libraries.

[Updated 2 June 2011]
This update fixes a regression in the original fix in which the msh applet was
incorrectly executing while loop with empty body. It never exited the loop even
if the loop condition was false. With this update, this loop construct works
correctly. (BZ#708942)

The original errata update also fixed the following three bugs:

• The grep applet was ignoring the "-i" command line option if the "-F" option

was also used. Consequent to this, the "grep -iF" command incorrectly performed
a case sensitive search instead of the case insensitive one. This update
resolves the problem by ensuring that this combination of command line options
works as expected. (BZ#608927)

• Previously, the msh applet had a severely limited depth of shell source

operations (that is, the ". FILE" built-in commands). Under certain
circumstances, this may have caused it to terminate unexpectedly with the "Shell
input nested too deeply" error message. With this update, the maximum number of
nested source operations is limited only by the number of available file
descriptors and the amount of available memory. (BZ#556845)

• Prior to this update, the msh applet had a limited buffer for the storage of

the results of a process substitution. Consequent to this, an attempt to execute
certain constructs (for example, `cat FILE` with a file larger than 15KB) could
cause it to exit with the "out of string space" error message. With this update,
the buffer size is now limited only by the amount of available memory.
(BZ#678701)

Users are advised to upgrade to these updated busybox packages, which fix these
bugs.

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/kb/docs/DOC-11259

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 5 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 5 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 i386

Fixes

• BZ - 556845 - Shell input nested too deeply
• BZ - 608927 - "busybox grep -Fi" doesn't work as expected

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)