RHBA-2011:1272 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated attr packages that fix multiple bugs are now available for Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 6.

Description

The attr packages provide extended attributes, which can be used to store system
objects like capabilities of executables and access control lists, as well as
user objects.

This update fixes the following bugs:

• Prior to this update, the setfattr utility could not restore the original

values of the attributes when the "getfattr -e text" or "getfattr

• -encoding=text" command was used to dump attributes with embedded null

characters. This update fixes the encoding of these values in getfattr to
prevent information loss. (BZ#651119)

• Prior to this update, the getfattr utility followed symbolic links to

directories even if the "-h" or "--no-dereference" option was specified.
Additionally, the description in the getfattr(1) man page that related to this
functionality was misleading. This update fixes getfattr with the "-h" option so
that it no longer follows the symbolic links and the related content of the
getfattr(1) man page is now correct. (BZ#665049)

• Prior to this update, the getfattr utility did not return a non-zero exit code

when an attribute specified in the "getfattr" command did not exist. This update
fixes getfattr so that it now returns a non-zero exit code when an attribute
does not exist. (BZ#665050)

• Prior to this update, supported methods for encoding values of the extended

attributes were not properly described in the setfattr(1) man page. This update
adds the appropriate descriptions of the encoding methods to the setfattr(1) man
page. (BZ#674870)

• Prior to this update, the project web page address as stated in the package

specification did not reflect the change of the upstream project web page
address. This update corrects the project web page address in the package
specification. (BZ#702639)

• Prior to this update, the attr library was built without support for

read-only relocations (RELRO) flags. With this update, the library is
now built with partial RELRO support. (BZ#727307)

All users of attr are advised to upgrade to these updated 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 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 6 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 6 ppc64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Scientific Computing 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support (for IBM z Systems) 6 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension (for IBM z Systems) 6 s390x

Fixes

• BZ - 651119 - getfattr ignores NULs in output when using "text" encoding
• BZ - 665049 - getfattr follows the links despite option -h
• BZ - 665050 - getfattr does not return failure when designated attribute does not exist
• BZ - 674870 - setfattr doesn't accept 0x2 as the value [documentation bug]
• BZ - 702639 - Stale upstream project pointer
• BZ - 727307 - Request to recompile libraries with -Wl,-z,relro flags

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)