RHSA-2007:0993 - Security Advisory

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix various security issues in the Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 5 kernel are now available.

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

Description

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

These new kernel packages contain fixes for the following security issues:

A memory leak was found in the Red Hat Content Accelerator kernel patch. A
local user could use this flaw to cause a denial of service (memory
exhaustion). (CVE-2007-5494, Important)

A flaw was found in the handling of IEEE 802.11 frames affecting several
wireless LAN modules. In certain circumstances, a remote attacker could
trigger this flaw by sending a malicious packet over a wireless network and
cause a denial of service (kernel crash). (CVE-2007-4997, Important).

A flaw was found in the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA). A local
user who had the ability to read the /proc/driver/snd-page-alloc file could
see portions of kernel memory. (CVE-2007-4571, Moderate).

In addition to the security issues described above, several bug fixes
preventing possible memory corruption, system crashes, SCSI I/O fails,
networking drivers performance regression and journaling block device layer
issue were also included.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 users are advised to upgrade to these packages,
which contain backported patches to resolve these issues.

Red Hat would like to credit Vasily Averin, Chris Evans, and Neil Kettle
for reporting the security issues corrected by this update.

Solution

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

This update is available via Red Hat Network. Details on how to use
the Red Hat Network to apply this update are available at
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/FAQ_58_10188

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.1 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.1 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 5.1 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 5 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 5 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support 5.1 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 5 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support 5.1 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server from RHUI 5 i386

Fixes

• BZ - 288961 - CVE-2007-4571 ALSA memory disclosure flaw
• BZ - 305011 - [RHEL 5.1.z]: Tick divider bugs on x86_64
• BZ - 315051 - CVE-2007-5494 open(O_ATOMICLOOKUP) leaks dentry
• BZ - 345141 - [PATCH] jbd: wait for already submitted t_sync_datalist buffer to complete (Possibility of in-place data destruction)
• BZ - 345151 - LSPP: audit rule causes kernel 'out of memory' condition and auditd failure
• BZ - 345161 - [EL5][BUG] Unexpected SIGILL on NFS/Montecito(ia64)
• BZ - 345171 - task->mm or slab corruption with CIFS
• BZ - 346341 - CVE-2007-4997 kernel ieee80211 off-by-two integer underflow
• BZ - 381001 - LSPP: audit enable not picking up all processes
• BZ - 381021 - [Broadcom 5.1.z bug] Performance regression on 5705 TG3 NICs
• BZ - 381101 - LTC35628-kexec/kdump kernel hung on Power5+ and Power6 based systems
• BZ - 381121 - LTC38135-vSCSI client reports 'Device sdX not ready' after deactive/active device on vSCSI server
• BZ - 381131 - forcedeth driver mishandles MSI interrupts under high load

CVEs

• CVE-2007-4571
• CVE-2007-4997
• CVE-2007-5494

References

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