Synopsis

Important: kernel security and bug fix update

Type/Severity

Security Advisory: Important

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix several security issues and one bug are
now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Extended Life Cycle Support
(ELS).

The Red Hat Security Response Team has rated this update as having
important 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

The kernel packages contain the Linux kernel, the core of any Linux
operating system.

This update fixes the following security issues:

• An array index error was found in the gdth driver in the Linux kernel. A
  local user could send a specially-crafted IOCTL request that would cause a
  denial of service or, possibly, privilege escalation. (CVE-2009-3080,
  Important)
  
• NULL pointer dereference flaws were found in the r128 driver in the Linux
  kernel. Checks to test if the Concurrent Command Engine state was
  initialized were missing in private IOCTL functions. An attacker could use
  these flaws to cause a local denial of service or escalate their
  privileges. (CVE-2009-3620, Important)
  
• A flaw was found in the Intel PRO/1000 Linux driver, e1000, in the Linux
  kernel. A remote attacker using packets larger than the MTU could bypass
  the existing fragment check, resulting in partial, invalid frames being
  passed to the network stack. This flaw could also possibly be used to
  trigger a remote denial of service. (CVE-2009-4536, Important)
  
• A use-after-free flaw was found in the tcp_rcv_state_process() function
  in the Linux kernel TCP/IP protocol suite implementation. If a system using
  IPv6 had the IPV6_PKTINFO option set on a listening socket, a remote
  attacker could send an IPv6 packet to that system, causing a kernel panic
  (denial of service). (CVE-2010-1188, Important)
  
• When an application has a stack overflow, the stack could silently
  overwrite another memory mapped area instead of a segmentation fault
  occurring, which could cause an application to execute arbitrary code,
  possibly leading to privilege escalation. It is known that the X Window
  System server can be used to trigger this flaw. (CVE-2010-2240, Important)
  
• The compat_alloc_user_space() function in the Linux kernel 32/64-bit
  compatibility layer implementation was missing sanity checks. This function
  could be abused in other areas of the Linux kernel. On 64-bit systems, a
  local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to escalate their privileges.
  (CVE-2010-3081, Important)
  

Red Hat would like to thank the X.Org security team for reporting the
CVE-2010-2240 issue, with upstream acknowledging Rafal Wojtczuk as the
original reporter; and Ben Hawkes for reporting the CVE-2010-3081 issue.

This update also fixes the following bug:

• The RHSA-2009:1550 kernel update introduced a regression that prevented
  certain custom kernel modules from loading, failing with "unresolved
  symbol" errors. This update corrects this issue, allowing the affected
  modules to load as expected. (BZ#556909)
  

Users should upgrade to these updated packages, which contain backported
patches to correct these issues. The system must be rebooted 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

To install kernel packages manually, use "rpm -ivh [package]". Do not
use "rpm -Uvh" as that will remove the running kernel binaries from
your system. You may use "rpm -e" to remove old kernels after
determining that the new kernel functions properly on your system.

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server - Extended Life Cycle Support 3 i386

Fixes

• BZ - 529597 - CVE-2009-3620 kernel: r128 IOCTL NULL pointer dereferences when CCE state is uninitialised
• BZ - 539414 - CVE-2009-3080 kernel: gdth: Prevent negative offsets in ioctl
• BZ - 552126 - CVE-2009-4536 kernel: e1000 issue reported at 26c3
• BZ - 556909 - unresolved symbol sock_recvmsg_Rsmp_4c34ff14
• BZ - 577711 - CVE-2010-1188 kernel: ipv6: skb is unexpectedly freed
• BZ - 606611 - CVE-2010-2240 kernel: mm: keep a guard page below a grow-down stack segment
• BZ - 634457 - CVE-2010-3081 kernel: 64-bit Compatibility Mode Stack Pointer Underflow

CVEs

• CVE-2009-3620
• CVE-2009-4536
• CVE-2009-3080
• CVE-2010-1188
• CVE-2010-2240
• CVE-2010-3081

References

• http://www.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important
• https://access.redhat.com/kb/docs/DOC-40265
• http://www.redhat.com/rhel/server/extended_lifecycle_support/

This erratum does not contain any packages.