RHSA-2006:0393 - Security Advisory

Topic

Updated ntp packages that fix several bugs are now available.

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

Description

The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is used to synchronize a computer's time
with a reference time source.

The NTP daemon (ntpd), when run with the -u option and using a string to
specify the group, uses the group ID of the user instead of the group,
which causes ntpd to run with different privileges than intended.
(CVE-2005-2496)

The following issues have also been addressed in this update:

• The init script had several problems
• The script executed on upgrade could fail
• The man page for ntpd indicated the wrong option for specifying a chroot

directory

• The ntp daemon could crash with the message "Exiting: No more memory!"
• There is a new option for syncing the hardware clock after a successful

run of ntpdate

Users of ntp 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.

This update is available via Red Hat Network. 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.

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 4 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 4 s390
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 4 ppc

Fixes

• BZ - 142926 - multiple problems with ntpd init.d script
• BZ - 149652 - CVE-2005-2496 improper group set when running ntpd
• BZ - 166773 - ntp %post scriptlet fails on upgrade, if ntpd is disabled.
• BZ - 177052 - ntpd dies with the error "Exiting: out of memory!"
• BZ - 187003 - ntpdate not invoked when supplying the -x option

CVEs

• CVE-2005-2496

References

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