RHBA-2011:1697 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated bind packages that fix several bugs are now available for Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 6.

Description

BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) is an implementation of the DNS (Domain
Name System) protocols. BIND includes a DNS server (named), which resolves host
names to IP addresses; a resolver library (routines for applications to use when
interfacing with DNS); and tools for verifying that the DNS server is operating
properly.

These updated bind packages provide fixes for the following bugs:

• Prior to this update, the code in libdns which sends DNS requests was not

robust enough and suffered from a race condition. If a race condition occurred,
the "named" name service daemon logged an error message in the format "zone
xxx.xxx.xxx.in-addr.arpa/IN: refresh: failure trying master xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx#53
(source xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx#0): operation canceled" even when zone refresh was
successful. This update improves the code to prevent a race condition in libdns
and the error no longer occurs in the scenario described. (BZ#699951)

• A command or script traditionally gives a non-zero exit status to indicate an

error. Prior to this update, the nsupdate utility incorrectly returned the exit
status "0" (zero) when the target DNS zone did not exist. Consequently, the
nsupdate command returned "success" even though the update failed. This update
corrects this error and nsupdate now returns the exit status "2" in the scenario
described. (BZ#700097)

• Prior to this update, named did not unload the bind-dyndb-ldap plugin in the

correct places in the code. Consequently, named sometimes terminated
unexpectedly during reload or stop when the bind-dyndb-ldap plugin was used.
This update corrects the code, the plug-in is now unloaded in the correct
places, and named no longer crashes in the scenario described. (BZ#725577)

• A non-writable working directory is a long time feature on all Red Hat

systems. Previously, named wrote "the working directory is not writable" as an
error to the system log. This update changes the code so that named now writes
this information only into the debug log. (BZ#693982)

• The named initscript lacked the "configtest" option that was available in

earlier releases. Consequently, users of the bind initscript could not use the
"service named configtest" command. This update adds the option and users can
now test their DNS configurations for correct syntax using the "service named
configtest" command. (BZ#717468)

All users of bind 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 x86_64
• 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 (for IBM z Systems) 6 s390x

Fixes

• BZ - 700097 - nsupdate returns success when target zone does not exist
• BZ - 712066 - Defects revealed by coverity scan

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)