RHBA-2015:1257 - Bug Fix Advisory

Topic

Updated NetworkManager packages that fix several bugs and add various enhancements are now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Description

NetworkManager is a system network service that manages network devices and connections, attempting to keep active network connectivity when available. Its capabilities include managing Ethernet, wireless, mobile broadband (WWAN), and PPPoE devices, as well as providing VPN integration with a variety of different VPN services.

This update fixes the following bugs:

• NetworkManager could not handle bonding parameters on the kernel command line with Kickstart installations and could terminate unexpectedly. With this update, Kickstart installations succeed. (BZ#1181207)
• Adding a connection available only to a particular user via nm-connection-editor could result in an incomplete connection being interpreted by the NetworkManager daemon. Applying this unintended configuration caused NetworkManager to terminate unexpectedly. Now, invalid connections are not created, and NetworkManager no longer crashes. (BZ#1156564)
• Saving Wireless Enterprise connections (802.1X-based) in the editor with the "Available to all users" and "Ask for this password every time" settings created an invalid profile, which disappeared after saving. With this update, nm-connection-editor does not allow saving invalid connections. (BZ#1173245)
• Previously, NetworkManager sometimes failed to set up DHCPv6, and IPv6 was not configured. With this update, NetworkManager parses RA flags correctly and runs DHCPv6 as intended. (BZ#1076169)
• This update fixes the translation of the "Create New Ad-Hoc Wireless Network" nm-applet menu entry. (BZ#1085015)
• Primary bond options were not properly handled in NetworkManager and nm-connection-editor. Now, configurations with active-backup bonds work as intended. (BZ#1003877)
• Removing an alias ifcfg file made NetworkManager disconnect both the alias and the base interfaces. This has been fixed. (BZ#1157867)
• When a user mistyped the gateway IP, no warning was provided. Now, nm-connection-editor informs the user of a possibly incorrect gateway field. (BZ#1167491)
• NetworkManager could sometimes contain duplicated IPv6 addresses in its configuration. With this update, there are no duplicated IPv6 addresses on the D-Bus interface and in the nmcli tool. (BZ#1207599)
• The nmcli tool could become unresponsive if both NetworkManager and nm-applet were stopped and the "nmcli con" command was issued. (BZ#1213327)
• Connections with a missing or 0.0.0.0 next-hop address were regarded as invalid. (BZ#1111672)

In addition, this update adds the following enhancements:

• Previously, the NM_CONTROLLED=no setting only worked if HWADDR was also set. Now, it is also possible to specify that a device is unmanaged by setting NM_CONTROLLED=no and DEVICE=<interface>. (BZ#979181)
• NetworkManager did not allow configuring VLAN on top of bond devices, and Anaconda installations using VLAN over bond did not work. This update adds support for VLANs (IEEE 802.11q) on top of Ethernet Bonds and Ethernet Bridges (IEEE 802.1d). (BZ#1063661)
• This update enhances nm-connection-editor, which now enables easier editing of IP addresses and routes. In addition, nm-connection-editor attempts to automatically detect and highlight typos and incorrect configurations. (BZ#905641)
• With this update, NetworkManager supports arping when configuring static IP addresses, so statically configured IPv4 addresses to other nodes on the local network are announced. (BZ#1056790)
• NetworkManager now supports the "multicast_snooping" option, configured via BRIDGING_OPTS in the ifcfg file, for bridge interfaces. (BZ#1046074)
• With this update, custom DNS options can be configured in connection profiles. The DNS options are read and written using the RES_OPTIONS variable in ifcfg files. (BZ#1200131)

Users of NetworkManager are advised to upgrade to these updated packages, which fix these bugs and add these enhancements.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata relevant to your system have been applied.

For details on how to apply this update, refer to:

https://access.redhat.com/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 - 1102642 - NM fails to parse ifcfg file with additional spaces
• BZ - 1135017 - ifcfg-rh: missing STP in bridge ifcfg file should be treated as STP=no
• BZ - 1144614 - Adding static route makes interface disappear from NetworkManager list of interfaces
• BZ - 1181205 - NetworkManager shouldn't require rp-pppoe on s390x (breaks nightlies)
• BZ - 1213327 - nmcli hangs when NetworkManager stopped

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)