RHBA-2012:1339 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

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

Description

The "file" command is used to identify a particular file according to the type
of data contained in the file. The command can identify various file types,
including ELF binaries, system libraries, RPM packages, and different graphics
formats.

This update fixes the following bugs:

• The file utility did not contain a "magic" pattern for detecting QED images

and was therefore not able to detect such images. A new "magic" pattern for
detecting QED images has been added, and the file utility now detects these
images as expected. (BZ#795425)

• The file utility did not contain a "magic" pattern for detecting VDI images

and was therefore not able to detect such images. A new "magic" pattern for
detecting VDI images has been added, and the file utility now detects these
images as expected. (BZ#795761)

• Previously, the file utility did not attempt to load "magic" patterns from the

~/.magic.mgc file, which caused "magic" patterns stored in this file to be
unusable. This update modifies the file utility so it now attempts to load the
~/.magic.mgc file. The file is loaded if it exists and "magic" patterns defined
in this file work as expected. (BZ#797784)

• Previously, the file utility used read timeout when decompressing files using

the "-z" option. As a consequence, the utility was not able to detect files
compressed by the bzip2 tool. The underlying source code has been modified so
that file no longer uses read timeout when decompressing compressed files.
Compressed files are now detected as expected when using the "-z" option.
(BZ#801711)

• Previously, the file utility contained multiple "magic" patterns to detect

output of the "dump" backup tool. On big-endian architectures, the less detailed
"magic" pattern was used and output of the file utility was inconsistent. The
less detailed "magic" pattern has been removed, and only one, more detailed,
"magic" pattern to detect "dump" output is used now. (BZ#859834)

All users of file are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which fix
these bugs.

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/knowledge/articles/11258

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 - 795425 - file does not recognize qemu qed images
• BZ - 795761 - file does not recognize VirtualBox vdi images
• BZ - 797784 - file doesn't read patterns from $HOME/.magic.mgc file
• BZ - 801711 - file -z doesn't uncompress bzip2 archives
• BZ - 859834 - poor dump file recognition

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)