RHSA-2006:0368 - Security Advisory

Topic

Updated elfutils packages that address a minor security issue and various
other issues are now available.

This update has been rated as having low security impact by the Red Hat
Security Response Team.

Description

The elfutils packages contain a number of utility programs and libraries
related to the creation and maintenance of executable code.

The elfutils packages that originally shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 were GPL-licensed versions which lacked some functionality. Previous
updates provided fully functional versions of elfutils only under the OSL
license. This update provides a fully functional, GPL-licensed version of
elfutils.

In the OSL-licensed elfutils versions provided in previous updates, some
tools could sometimes crash when given corrupted input files. (CVE-2005-1704)

Also, when the eu-strip tool was used to create separate debuginfo files
from relocatable objects such as kernel modules (.ko), the resulting
debuginfo files (.ko.debug) were sometimes corrupted. Both of these
problems are fixed in the new version.

Users of elfutils should upgrade to these updated packages, which resolve
these issues.

Solution

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

To update all RPMs for your particular architecture, run:

rpm -Fvh [filenames]

where [filenames] is a list of the RPMs you wish to upgrade. Only those
RPMs which are currently installed will be updated. Those RPMs which are
not installed but included in the list will not be updated. Note that you
can also use wildcards (*.rpm) if your current directory *only* contains the
desired RPMs.

Please note that this update is also available via Red Hat Network. Many
people find this 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.

If up2date fails to connect to Red Hat Network due to SSL
Certificate Errors, you need to install a version of the
up2date client with an updated certificate. The latest version of
up2date is available from the Red Hat FTP site and may also be
downloaded directly from the RHN website:

https://rhn.redhat.com/help/latest-up2date.pxt

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 3 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 3 s390
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 3 ppc

Fixes

• BZ - 159908 - CVE-2005-1704 Integer overflow in libelf
• BZ - 187507 - RHEL3 U8: Elfutils license upgrade
• BZ - 189114 - eu-strip mangles separate debuginfo with relocation sections

CVEs

• CVE-2005-1704

References

• http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#low