RHSA-2011:0162 - Security Advisory

Topic

Updated kernel packages that fix multiple security issues and two bugs are
now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.

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:

• A heap overflow flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Transparent

Inter-Process Communication protocol (TIPC) implementation. A local,
unprivileged user could use this flaw to escalate their privileges.
(CVE-2010-3859, Important)

• Missing sanity checks were found in gdth_ioctl_alloc() in the gdth driver

in the Linux kernel. A local user with access to "/dev/gdth" on a 64-bit
system could use these flaws to cause a denial of service or escalate their
privileges. (CVE-2010-4157, Moderate)

• A NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in the Bluetooth HCI UART

driver in the Linux kernel. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw
to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2010-4242, Moderate)

• A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's garbage collector for AF_UNIX

sockets. A local, unprivileged user could use this flaw to trigger a
denial of service (out-of-memory condition). (CVE-2010-4249, Moderate)

• Missing initialization flaws were found in the Linux kernel. A local,

unprivileged user could use these flaws to cause information leaks.
(CVE-2010-3876, CVE-2010-4072, CVE-2010-4073, CVE-2010-4075, CVE-2010-4080,
CVE-2010-4083, CVE-2010-4158, Low)

Red Hat would like to thank Alan Cox for reporting CVE-2010-4242; Vegard
Nossum for reporting CVE-2010-4249; Vasiliy Kulikov for reporting
CVE-2010-3876; Kees Cook for reporting CVE-2010-4072; and Dan Rosenberg for
reporting CVE-2010-4073, CVE-2010-4075, CVE-2010-4080, CVE-2010-4083, and
CVE-2010-4158.

This update also fixes the following bugs:

• A flaw was found in the Linux kernel where, if used in conjunction with

another flaw that can result in a kernel Oops, could possibly lead to
privilege escalation. It does not affect Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 as the
sysctl panic_on_oops variable is turned on by default. However, as a
preventive measure if the variable is turned off by an administrator, this
update addresses the issue. Red Hat would like to thank Nelson Elhage for
reporting this vulnerability. (BZ#659568)

• On Intel I/O Controller Hub 9 (ICH9) hardware, jumbo frame support is

achieved by using page-based sk_buff buffers without any packet split. The
entire frame data is copied to the page(s) rather than some to the
skb->data area and some to the page(s) when performing a typical
packet-split. This caused problems with the filtering code and frames were
getting dropped before they were received by listening applications. This
bug could eventually lead to the IP address being released and not being
able to be re-acquired from DHCP if the MTU (Maximum Transfer Unit) was
changed (for an affected interface using the e1000e driver). With this
update, frames are no longer dropped and an IP address is correctly
re-acquired after a previous release. (BZ#664667)

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 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 4.8 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 4.8 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for x86_64 - Extended Update Support 4.8 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 IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support 4.8 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems - Extended Update Support 4.8 s390
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 4 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian - Extended Update Support 4.8 ppc

Fixes

• BZ - 641410 - CVE-2010-4242 kernel: missing tty ops write function presence check in hci_uart_tty_open()
• BZ - 645867 - CVE-2010-3859 kernel: tipc: heap overflow in tipc_msg_build()
• BZ - 648656 - CVE-2010-4072 kernel: ipc/shm.c: reading uninitialized stack memory
• BZ - 648658 - CVE-2010-4073 kernel: ipc/compat*.c: reading uninitialized stack memory
• BZ - 648660 - CVE-2010-4075 kernel: drivers/serial/serial_core.c: reading uninitialized stack memory
• BZ - 648669 - CVE-2010-4080 kernel: drivers/sound/pci/rme9652/hdsp.c: reading uninitialized stack memory
• BZ - 648673 - CVE-2010-4083 kernel: ipc/sem.c: reading uninitialized stack memory
• BZ - 649715 - CVE-2010-3876 kernel: net/packet/af_packet.c: reading uninitialized stack memory
• BZ - 651147 - CVE-2010-4157 kernel: gdth: integer overflow in ioc_general()
• BZ - 651698 - CVE-2010-4158 kernel: socket filters infoleak
• BZ - 656756 - CVE-2010-4249 kernel: unix socket local dos
• BZ - 659568 - CVE-2010-4258 kernel: failure to revert address limit override in OOPS error path [rhel-4.8.z]

CVEs

• CVE-2010-4080
• CVE-2010-4083
• CVE-2010-4073
• CVE-2010-4075
• CVE-2010-4072
• CVE-2010-3876
• CVE-2010-4157
• CVE-2010-4158
• CVE-2010-4242
• CVE-2010-3859
• CVE-2010-4249

References

• https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/#important