RHSA-2003:239 - Security Advisory

Topic

Updated kernel packages that address various security vulnerabilities are
now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Description

The Linux kernel handles the basic functions of the operating system.

Security issues have been found that affect the versions of the Linux
kernel shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux:

CAN-2003-0462: Paul Starzetz discovered a file read race condition existing
in the execve() system call, which could cause a local crash.

CAN-2003-0501: The /proc filesystem in Linux allows local users to obtain
sensitive information by opening various entries in /proc/self before
executing a setuid program. This causes the program to fail to change the
ownership and permissions of already opened entries.

CAN-2003-0550: The STP protocol is known to have no security, which could
allow attackers to alter the bridge topology. STP is now turned off by
default.

CAN-2003-0551: STP input processing was lax in its length checking, which
could lead to a denial of service (DoS).

CAN-2003-0552: Jerry Kreuscher discovered that the Forwarding table could
be spoofed by sending forged packets with bogus source addresses the same
as the local host.

CAN-2003-0619: An integer signedness error in the decode_fh function of
nfs3xdr.c allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (kernel
panic) via a negative size value within XDR data of an NFSv3 procedure call.

CAN-2003-0699: The C-Media PCI sound driver in Linux kernel versions prior
to 2.4.21 accesses userspace without using the get_user function, which is
a potential security hole.

All users are advised to upgrade to these erratum packages, which contain
backported security patches correcting these vulnerabilities.

Solution

Release notes, driver notes, and driver disks for this update are available
at the following URL:

http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/rhel/

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

The procedure for upgrading the kernel manually is documented at:

http://www.redhat.com/support/docs/howto/kernel-upgrade/

Please read the directions for your architecture carefully before
proceeding with the kernel upgrade.

Please note that this update is also available via Red Hat Network. Many
people find this to be an easier way to apply updates. To use Red Hat
Network, launch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command:

up2date

This will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate
RPMs being upgraded on your system. Note that you need to select the kernel
explicitly on default configurations of up2date.

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 2 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 2 i386

Fixes

• BZ - 99514 - Various kernel security issues affect Enterprise Linux kernel

CVEs

• CVE-2003-0699
• CVE-2003-0619
• CVE-2003-0552
• CVE-2003-0551
• CVE-2003-0550
• CVE-2003-0501
• CVE-2003-0462

References

(none)