RHEA-2011:1684 - Product Enhancement Advisory

Topic

Updated keyutils packages that fix one bug and add one enhancement are now
available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Description

The keyutils package provides utilities to control the Linux kernel key
management facility and to provide a mechanism by which the kernel calls up to
user space to get a key instantiated.

This update fixes the following bug:

• The keyutils subpackage did not contain a dependency on the keyutils-libs

subpackage but rather it contained only an implicit dependency on the
libkeyutils.so.[n] shared object files specified as the SONAME variable. As a
consequence, the keyutils subpackage could have been updated without applying
the newest keyutils libraries, which could have caused keyutils to work
incorrectly. To fix this issue, the keyutils spec file has been modified to
include an explicit dependency on the version of keyutils-libs that matches the
keyutils subpackage. Both subpackages are now updated together. (BZ#730002)

This update also provides the following enhancement:

• Previously, the keyutils subpackages were compiled without the RELRO

(read-only relocations) flag. Programs provided by this package and also
programs built against the keyutils libraries were thus vulnerable to various
attacks based on overwriting the ELF section of a program. To increase the
security of keyutils programs and libraries, the keyutils spec file has been
modified to use the "-Wl,-z,relro" flags when compiling the packages. As a
result, the keyutils subpackages are now provided with partial RELRO protection.
(BZ#727280)

Users are advised to upgrade to these updated keyutils packages, which fix this
bug and add this enhancement.

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 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 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support (for IBM z Systems) 6 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension 6 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension 6 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support Extension (for IBM z Systems) 6 s390x

Fixes

• BZ - 727280 - Request to recompile libraries with -Wl,-z,relro flags
• BZ - 730002 - The keyutils subpackage should depend on the keyutils-libs subpackage

CVEs

(none)

References

(none)