RHBA-2013:1303 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated scl-utils packages that fix several bugs are now available for Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 5.

Description

The scl-utils packages provide a runtime utility and RPM packaging macros for
packaging Software Collections. Software Collections allow users to concurrently
install multiple versions of the same RPM packages on the system. Using the scl
utility, users may enable specific versions of RPMs, which are installed into
the /opt directory. The scl-utils packages provide support for Red Hat Developer
Toolset 1.1 packages.

This update fixes the following bugs:

• Previously, detection of Software Collections that were specified to be

enabled was done in a wrong place in the code. Thus, when attempting to enable
multiple Software Collections with a single command, scl-utils enabled only the
first given Collection. The updated package scans all the arguments, and all
specified Software Collections are now enabled. (BZ#949994)

• When starting an inspection of the already-enabled Collections, a wrong

variable was taken as source of information. Consequently, when running a shell
in the scl_enabled environment, users could successfully enable the
already-enabled Collection. This could lead to destruction of some parts of the
original environment. This update accepts the correct variable as a source of
information concerning the already-enabled collections, and the collections are
no longer enabled multiple times. (BZ#955668)

• Previously, the python27 packages required a specific byte compiler.

Consequently, the build of python27 using the wrong byte compiler collection
failed. With this update, the python27 packages can be compiled successfully
using a new functionality to override various rpm macros.(BZ#957176)

• If the PATH variable was not set as expected by scl-utils, executing the "scl

enable" command led to a "command not found" error message. This was caused by
the scl utility calling the scl_enabled command without the absolute PATH and
relying on the PATH set by the user. With this update, scl-utils calls the
scl_enabled helper script with the absolute PATH, and the aforementioned error
messages no longer occur. (BZ#957752)

• Prior to this update, the ori_cmd variable was freed at the moment of

displaying. Consequently, the scl utility could have failed with a segmentation
fault. The fix has been provided for a double free or corruption error when
reading commands from the standard input, and thus scl no longer fails.
(BZ#957765)

• While enabling Software Collections, scl did not respect results of a test and

always enabled Collections regardless of whether the respective Collection was
already enabled or not. As a consequence, a Collection was enabled multiple
times if the Collection was specified more than once in the command, which could
result in undetermined behavior. This update runs the enable scriptlet only if
the Collection has not been enabled before, and any attempts to enable a
collection multiple times in one environment are now ignored. (BZ#964056)

Users of scl-utils 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/site/articles/11258

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 - 949994 - scl-utils can't enable more than one collection at a time
• BZ - 955668 - A collection can get twice-enabled
• BZ - 956707 - scl-utils: missing format attribute on sprintf wrapper
• BZ - 957752 - Use absolute path when calling scl_enabled
• BZ - 964056 - No check for already enabled collections in scl enable <collection>+ <command>

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)