Synopsis

Moderate: postgresql security update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory: Moderate

Topic

Updated postgresql packages that fix multiple security issues are now
available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having moderate
security impact. Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base scores,
which give detailed severity ratings, are available for each vulnerability
from the CVE links in the References section.

Description

PostgreSQL is an advanced object-relational database management system
(DBMS). PL/Perl and PL/Tcl allow users to write PostgreSQL functions in the
Perl and Tcl languages, and are installed in trusted mode by default. In
trusted mode, certain operations, such as operating system level access,
are restricted.

A flaw was found in the way PostgreSQL enforced permission checks on
scripts written in PL/Perl. If the PL/Perl procedural language was
registered on a particular database, an authenticated database user running
a specially-crafted PL/Perl script could use this flaw to bypass intended
PL/Perl trusted mode restrictions, allowing them to run arbitrary Perl
scripts with the privileges of the database server. (CVE-2010-1169)

Red Hat would like to thank Tim Bunce for responsibly reporting the
CVE-2010-1169 flaw.

A flaw was found in the way PostgreSQL enforced permission checks on
scripts written in PL/Tcl. If the PL/Tcl procedural language was registered
on a particular database, an authenticated database user running a
specially-crafted PL/Tcl script could use this flaw to bypass intended
PL/Tcl trusted mode restrictions, allowing them to run arbitrary Tcl
scripts with the privileges of the database server. (CVE-2010-1170)

A buffer overflow flaw was found in the way PostgreSQL retrieved a
substring from the bit string for BIT() and BIT VARYING() SQL data types.
An authenticated database user running a specially-crafted SQL query could
use this flaw to cause a temporary denial of service (postgres daemon
crash) or, potentially, execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the
database server. (CVE-2010-0442)

An integer overflow flaw was found in the way PostgreSQL used to calculate
the size of the hash table for joined relations. An authenticated database
user could create a specially-crafted SQL query which could cause a
temporary denial of service (postgres daemon crash) or, potentially,
execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the database server.
(CVE-2010-0733)

PostgreSQL improperly protected session-local state during the execution of
an index function by a database superuser during the database maintenance
operations. An authenticated database user could use this flaw to elevate
their privileges via specially-crafted index functions. (CVE-2009-4136)

All PostgreSQL users are advised to upgrade to these updated packages,
which contain backported patches to correct these issues. Running
PostgreSQL instances must be restarted ("service rhdb restart") for this
update to take effect.

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
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-11259

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 - 546321 - CVE-2009-4136 postgresql: SQL privilege escalation via modifications to session-local state
• BZ - 546621 - CVE-2010-0733 postgresql: Integer overflow in hash table size calculation
• BZ - 559259 - CVE-2010-0442 postgresql: substring() negative length argument buffer overflow
• BZ - 582615 - CVE-2010-1169 PostgreSQL: PL/Perl Intended restriction bypass
• BZ - 583072 - CVE-2010-1170 PostgreSQL: PL/Tcl Intended restriction bypass

CVEs

• CVE-2010-1170
• CVE-2009-4136
• CVE-2010-0733
• CVE-2010-0442
• CVE-2010-1169

References

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

This erratum does not contain any packages.