RHBA-2011:1796 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix four bugs are now available as part of the
ongoing support and maintenance of Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 4.

Description

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux operating
system.

This update fixes the following bugs:

• Previously, ARP queries were not sent correctly for bonded network interfaces.

Therefore, a bonded network interface configured in active-backup mode using ARP
monitoring could repeatedly go down and up when no network traffic was flowing.
This update corrects a problem with a missing bracket in the code, and thus
ensures that ARP queries are sent properly. Bonded interfaces now remain up as
expected. (#BZ735184)

• When a faulty address was mapped and writable on the Xen PV domU on the Intel

64 architecture, a kernel oops could occur. With this update, the underlying
code has been modified to perform an additional TLB flush operation of the stale
TLB entry in the Xen domU before signaling a page fault. Kernel oopses no longer
occur under these circumstances. (#BZ654210)

• Previously, LEGACY_PTYS, the boolean kernel configuration option was

incorrectly allowed to be defined within a range from 0 to 4096 instead of the
CONFIG_LEGACY_PTY_COUNT kernel configuration option. Consequently, if building
the kernel with the nonint_oldconfig option, the build failed. This problem has
been fixed: the range parameter has been removed for the LEGACY_PTYS, and the
CONFIG_LEGACY_PTY_COUNT option now can be correctly specified within a range
from 0 to 4096. Kernel can be built with the nonint_oldconfig option without
problems. (#BZ683117)

• When NIC firmware failed to respond to a reset request on the system with the

bnx2 driver loaded in the kernel, a kernel panic could occur. With this update,
the driver has been modified to close the device when the reset request fails. A
kernel panic no longer occurs in the situation described. (#BZ721147)

Note: the system must be rebooted for this update to take effect.

All users are advised to upgrade to these updated kernel 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 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 - 654210 - domU kernel panic in xennet code
• BZ - 683117 - kernel config option LEGACY_PTYS (bool) should not have a range

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)